Unexpected Places
by BackgroundRobot-11
Summary: In a time of Galactic Civil War, one Imperial Moff becomes disillusioned with the Empire, and seeks to change a galaxy...
1. Treachery above Malrev IV

Hello and welcome everyone to a little story that I like to call Unexpected Places. It follows the story of one Grand Moff who grows disillusioned during Palpatine's rule and wishes to change the face of the Galaxy. As well as focusing on him, the story will also focus on the tales of others who are or will be connected to him in some way. The first few chapters will take place during the final days of the Clone Wars. Alright, well thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review. Thanks!

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Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars in any form, some of the characters are mine, but that's it.

Above the planet of Malrev IV, a Republic Fleet was stationed in orbit. On the surface of the planet, the clone troopers, led by Jedi general, Alyss Vrax were engaging the Separatist forces for control over the planet. Exactly what advantage the planet had was anyone's guess, neither side really knew. The Republic had been under strict orders to avoid bombing one particular stretch of forest by Chancellor Palpatine, but he was refusing to give the reason. The Separatists meanwhile, had been ordered to take the planet by their leader, Darth Sidious. The battle was going horribly for the Separatists, within days, their ships had been destroyed, captured or had fled, leaving the troops on the ground forced to resort to guerrilla tactics. The two major ships of the Republic were the _Harbinger_, a _Venator-_class Star Destroyer, and the _Order, _a _Munificent-_class light frigate that had been captured by the Antarian Rangers, a military force that was highly loyal to the Jedi Order. The fleet was commanded by Admiral Ozzaris Vlanc, a man who prided himself on the fact that unlike most Republic fleets, his was crewed almost entirely by non clones. In truth, Vlanc had never liked the clones, in his opinion; they had been cloned from criminal scum and had no business serving aboard his ships.

Aboard the _Harbinger, _Vlanc was conversing with senior Jedi general Kodu Terrafin, a two meter tall Arcona Jedi. Despite the general's intimidating size and appearance, he was as gentle as a nuna, and was a Jedi consular, a group of Jedi who were dedicated to peace and order.

"It really is quite the sight, eh, general?" Vlanc asked, staring down at Malrev IV and the recently bombarded continent.

"Frankly admiral, I would have preferred not having to bomb the planet." Terrafin replied, staring at the planet sorrowfully.

"Well, sometimes that's the price you pay in war. Things get broken, no matter how much you try to avoid it."

"Hmm, perhaps, I just wish that we never had to resort to war in the first place." Terrafin mused.

"Ah, of course, I forgot that I was talking to a pacifist." Vlanc chuckled.

"All Jedi are pacifists admiral, some just less so than others."

"Well I'm sure that count Dooku would beg to differ!" Vlanc joked, gently nudging Terrafin.

"He would like to see the Jedi Order abandon its principles and turn to the Dark Side." Terrafin said solemnly, still staring at the planet.

Vlanc turned looked behind him, feeling someone staring at them. One of the few clone officers seemed to be staring intently at Terrafin. Vlanc turned back again and scowled, _clone scum! _Vlanc thought.

"Uh, yes, well, with the way the war's been going so far, it looks like Dooku shall fail!" Vlanc said, stealing another glance at the clone, who seemed to have half risen from his station.

"Perhaps, but I have been sensing a dark presence…it feels as if-" Terrafin suddenly let out a choked gasp, before he collapsed.

"What?" Vlanc asked, whipping out his blaster pistol.

Vlanc stared down at Terrafin's motionless body. There were two smoking blaster marks in his body, one in his back and one in the back of his head. Vlanc spun around to see the clone officer holding a blaster pistol, smoke still pouring out of the barrel.

"Traitor!" Vlanc exclaimed, drawing his weapon and levelling it at the clone "For the crime of treason against the Galactic Republic, I am placing you under arrest, clone scum!"

The clone stood where he was, apparently calm "You have it all wrong, admiral, _he _was the traitor" The clone said, motioning to Terrafin with his pistol "He was conspiring to overthrow the Republic, along with the rest of the Jedi order!"

"What proof do you have of this? And think carefully before you answer, clone!" Vlanc snarled, levelling his weapon and pointing it at the clone's forehead.

"I've received an order from one of Chancellor Palpatine's closest advisors telling me that the Jedi Order has received high treason. A few hours ago they even attempted to assassinate the chancellor!" The clone replied, not even blinking at the prospect of death.

"Which one? That worm, Kinman Dorianna or that little sneak, Sate Pestage?" Vlanc asked, his voice dripping in contempt.

"Senior administrative aid, Sly Moore, and you would do well to show a little respect, admiral."

"I show respect to those who deserve it, clone! Neither Pestage nor Dorianna deserve my respect!"

"They serve the greatest man in the galaxy, or have you forgotten that, admiral?" The clone asked.

"Just because they serve the great chancellor Palpatine doesn't mean that they are great, clone! And what about the other Jedi on the planet? Surely they are not guilty of treason as you claim?"

The clone glanced past Vlanc, towards the planet "They are being dealt with as they speak."

Vlanc turned and stared at the planet in horror, before turning to the communications officer "Quick, get in touch with the Antarian Rangers and warn them to protect the Jedi!" Vlanc ordered.

"Belay that order! To do so would be treason against the Republic!" The clone said, turning to the officer.

* * *

On the surface of Malrev IV, the young Mirialan Jedi, Alyss Vrax was walking alongside clone commander CC-32-1920, better known as Sunny, somewhat of a misnomer due to his pessimistic demeanour. Vrax had long black hair tied back in a ponytail and orange eyes, on her belt she carried her lightsaber, which emitted a green blade when activated. Sunny was wearing the standard armour of the 18th Solar Corps, which was adorned with purple stripes and had a purple sun on the side of the helmet. Beneath his helmet was an almost completely shaved head, save for the mohawk like hairstyle that was common among the soldiers of the Solar Corps.

"How goes the siege, Sunny?" Vrax asked, despite all of the battles occurring, she retained her bubbly and cheerful personality.

"Awful sir, between the Seppies and those four armed freaks in the jungle, we're losing a lot of men." Sunny replied, displaying his usual dour personality.

In response, Vrax put her arms around Sunny "Aw, my Sunny. Lighten up will you?"

Sunny shook her off "Please don't, general. I really wish that you would act more professional, you are a general after all."

"Hey, since when have I ever been serious?" Vrax asked, her eyes shimmering.

Sunny sighed "For the entirety of the time that I've known you general, you've never acted even slightly serious."

"I know, I'm fun aren't I?" Vrax asked mischievously.

"If you say so, general." Sunny said, and then frowned as his com link began beeping.

"You answer that, I want to go scout out that ridge." Vrax said, before walking off.

"Yes, general." Sunny said, pulling out his com link.

Vrax walked over to the ridge. She was really only going over there for the view. In the past few weeks, much of the planet had been bombarded, and the forests had been razed. Although she did not show it, Vrax had been in a great deal of pain, she had felt so much sorrow and despair over the loss of the plant and animal life. Even the deaths vicious Irrukiine had hurt Vrax. Vrax sighed, the only part of the continent that had not been bombed was a secluded patch of forest that housed a strange temple. Although she had never set foot within it, Vrax could sense a great deal of dark energy emanating from within it. Suddenly, Vrax heard someone come up behind her, she did not have to turn to know who it was.

"Sunny? What is-?" Vrax was suddenly silenced when Sunny hit her over the head with his blaster rifle.

"Nothing personal, general, just orders." Sunny said solemnly as he raised his blaster and prepared for the killing shot…

"Urk!" Sunny exclaimed, clutching at his throat.

His hands felt a sharp object sticking out of it. Suddenly, it retracted, and Sunny collapsed, turning as he did so. Sunny looked up and saw one of the Antarian Rangers standing over him, a four eyed Aqualish wielding a blaster rifle with a vibro bayonet attached to it. As Sunny struggled weakly, the Aqualish raised his rifle and fired three times into Sunny's chest, extinguishing his life. With the clone out of the way, the ranger moved to check on Vrax. He placed a finger on her neck and found a pulse. He sighed in relief and then called over his superior officer.

"What happened, private Dagger?" A green skinned Kadas'sa'Nikto sergeant asked, walking up to Dagger and Vrax.

"The clone walked up to her and hit on the head, and then he moved to shoot her." Dagger reported in his native language of Aqualish.

"What? Hmm, I think we had better take her back to the _Order _and report this to the captain." The sergeant said, before helping Dagger bring Vrax to her feet and carry her back to their shuttle.

* * *

Back aboard the _Harbinger, _Vlanc was still arguing with the clone naval officer.

"You cannot do this!" Vlanc exclaimed.

"I am merely following orders, admiral, if you value your position and are truly loyal to Chancellor Palpatine, then you would stop fighting me and carry out your orders!" The clone said, glaring at Vlanc.

"Sir! We've just received word from one of the clones, commander Sunny is dead and general Vrax is missing!" An ensign reported.

"What? Blast! Those rangers must have taken her to safety!" The clone cursed.

"Excellent, perhaps there is some hope after all!" Vlanc exclaimed, hope gleaming in his eyes.

In response, the clone shot a glare at him "You treacherous fool! Don't you understand? If that Jedi escapes, then she could start up a resistance movement against the Republic!"

"Open your eyes clone! There is no movement against the Republic! It is surely some form of Separatist ploy!" Vlanc protested.

"Uh…sir?" The ensign broke in hesitantly "We have reports of an Antarian Ranger shuttle heading towards the _Order. _Do you have any orders?"

"Quickly, we must destroy it! Before the Jedi can escape!" The clone cried.

"No! Belay that order! The Antarian Rangers are our allies, and even if they were carrying the Jedi, we would need her for questioning to see whether she is involved in this so called conspiracy!" Vlanc said.

"All of the Jedi are a part of this you fool! How can you be so blind? Order them to open fire!" The clone said, pointing at the shuttle.

"Perhaps you should ask yourself the same question, clone!" Vlanc shot back "And I will not order my fleet to open fire on our own allies!"

While the two were arguing, the shuttle had since docked with the _Order, _a fact which the crew had noticed.

"Sir! The shuttle has docked with the Antarian Ranger's ship! If you wish to act, it must be now, sir!" A crewmember reported.

"Do it! Open fire now!" The clone shouted.

"No! Hold fire I say! We will not destroy our allies!"

The clone screamed in frustration and launched himself at Vlanc. It was quite a short fight, as the non-clone crewmembers all shot up and managed to wrestle the clone off of Vlanc. In that time, the clone had punched Vlanc in the mouth, and in turn, Vlanc had given the clone a black eye.

"Striking a senior officer? Do you know what the penalty for such an action is?" Vlanc asked as he stared at the clone "Take this clone scum to the brig!"

"You fool! You're dooming us all! You're dooming us all!" The clone shouted as he was dragged from the bridge.

* * *

On the bridge of the _Order, _the captain of the ship, a blue skinned Mon Calamari officer named Jericho Gargos was talking to private Dagger.

"…And you're sure that you saw the clone about to execute the general?" Gargos asked.

"Yes sir, I witnessed it with my own four eyes! If I hadn't shown up when I did, then that clone filth would have murdered her!" Dagger responded, clenching his fist.

A Human officer ran up to Gargos "Sir! We're receiving reports all over the galaxy of clones turning on their generals! This is not a centralised incident!"

Gargos cursed "Blast! Then we must act quickly! Who is the closest Jedi to our position?" Gargos asked.

An officer looked at his monitor "General Bdaris Telnari, he's visiting the listening post on the planet Bakkah."

"How many clones are stationed at that listening post?"

"About nine, sir." The officer replied.

"Then perhaps the general has a chance! How is Vrax?"

"She's fine sir, she's being treated by the med droid as we speak."

"Good, but we haven't a moment to spare! Set a course for Bakkah!" Gargos ordered.

And with that, the _Order_ turned and entered hyperspace, heading to Bakkah as fast as possible.

* * *

And end of chapter 1. Well, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm open to constructive criticism and suggestions if anyone would like to offer. Like I said, most of this stuff is up on the Star Wars Fanon Wiki if anyone would like to see it. Well, thanks for reading, don't forget to leave a review, I'll have another chapter up as soon as possible. Thanks for reading!


	2. Bakkah ambush

Hello, to the second chapter of Unexpected Places. It's been a while, I know, but I've mostly been updating my other work, sorry. Anyway, I do not own Star Wars or any characters that are associated with Star Wars, aside from a few I made myself. Last chapter, the Clone Wars had just finished and Order 66 was enacted galaxy wide. While some were killed, others managed to escape, such as Alyss Vrax, with the help of the Antarian Rangers (last chapter). Now, the Antarian Rangers race to Bakkah in order to save Jedi General Bdaris Telnari, before it is too late. Well, thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review when you're done, thanks!

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On the desert planet of Bakkah, a listening post resided. While it was important in keeping the Separatists away from a nearby system which contained cloning facilities, on this particular day it was the subject of an inspection by the renowned Jedi, Bdaris Telnari. Not only was Telnari to be present, but the clone commander of the 34th Legion as well, CC-1986, aka Arachnid. All nine of the clones stationed there were standing outside on the flight pad. Four stood on either side of the pad while the commanding officer of the station, Sergeant CT-4131, or Clanker as he was known to his men due to his extensive cybernetics, stood apart from his soldiers, addressing them.

"Alright men, listen up! We are receiving a very special inspection from not one, but two high ranking officers! I want to see you men on your best behaviour, no shenanigans! I'm looking at you, Mohawk!" Clanker barked, glancing at the base's most rebellious soldier.

"Whatever." CT-7921 said in a bored tone of voice.

Ever since he had been shipped there following the Battle of Tibrin, Mohawk had been nothing but trouble. He harassed the communications officer, CT-2668, aka Soundwave, frequently got into arguments with the base's pilot, CT-5257, aka Jolt, and until recently, had secretly been riding off into the desert to hunt the native Tusken Raiders. Ever since then, Mohawk had been prohibited from using the base's vehicles and armoury, and had been kept under close observation by Clanker himself.

"I mean it soldier!" Clanker snapped "But just to make sure, you'll be sticking close by me for the duration of the inspection!"

Soundwave snickered, causing Mohawk to turn and growl at him.

"You find something funny, shut-in?" Mohawk asked.

"Maybe the fact that the sarge's is keeping you on a leash like the dog you are!" Soundwave said, sneering from underneath his helmet.

"They're at it again." Indigo whispered to his friend, Bishop, who nodded.

"It's all they ever do." Bishop replied.

"Alright, break it up you two!" Clanker barked, moving towards Mohawk and Soundwave "I do not want you two putting so much as a toe out of line during this inspection, so Soundwave, you're being confined to the communications station!"

Soundwave was secretly pleased, it would keep him away from that degenerate, Mohawk for most of the day, and he would be where he was most comfortable.

"Yes, sir." Soundwave said, grinning under his helmet.

"Mohawk, you're with me! Indigo, you'll be cleaning the mess hall, Scorch, you and Bishop will be patrolling the halls-"

"Oh...joy..." Scorch said sarcastically.

"Watch the lip, soldier! Stun, you're monitoring the all clear signal..."

Stun sighed, another boring operation in the rut that was his life.

"And Spanner and Jolt, you'll-" Clanker said, before being cut off.

"We'll be in the garage, fixing up the LAAT." Jolt broke in.

Clanker rolled his organic eye "Fine, there are no other duties for you anyway, just stay out of my way!"

"Yes, sir!" Spanner and Jolt said, giving salutes.

"Good, with any luck, this inspection will go off without a hitch. Bishop, you see anything?" Clanker asked the deck officer.

"Yes, sir, the ship is just entering atmo now." Bishop said as he lowered his electrobinoculars over his visor.

"Excellent, remember, _best behaviour_." Clanker said, staring at Mohawk.

"Understood...sir." Mohawk replied.

A few moments later, a _Nu-_class attack shuttle touched down on the deck. With a hiss, the boarding hatch opened and the landing ramp extended. A tall, blonde, Human male wearing Jedi robes and modified clone trooper armour quickly strode out, soon followed by a clone commander wearing battle scarred armour. Commander Arachnid's armour bore the standard grey stripes of the 34th Legion, and in addition, he had an arachnor painted onto the sides of his helmet and a web like design on his shoulder plates. Accompanying the two were eight other clones, six standard clone troopers and two clone pilots.

"General Telnari, Commander Arachnid." Clanker greeted as he strode up to the two.

"Sergeant Clanker, I presume?" Bdaris asked.

"Yes, general, that's me. Sergeant Clanker, designation CT-4131." Clanker replied.

"Sergeant, I am commander Arachnid" Arachnid said as he stepped forward, before motioning to the soldiers behind him "And these are Flak, Razorback, Yellowjacket, Aerosol, Sprocket, Foundry, Nova and Starlight."

"Well, now that we've been properly introduced, shall we get this inspection underway? I would like to get back to the frontlines of Algarra II as soon as possible." Bdaris said.

"Ah, yes, I understand you and general Vractil are fighting there." Clanker said, reffering to the Anomid Jedi Master, Radek Vractil.

"Indeed, we are. Or rather, he is, while I am out here, inspecting this listening post." Bdaris said, a clear note of impatience in his voice.

"Yes, well, I suppose we should begin then. This way, sirs." Clanker said as he directed Telnari and Arachnid to follow him.

"Men, come along," Arachnid spoke up, motioning for the troopers he had brought along to accompany him "You two, stay with the ship." Arachnid ordered the pilots.

Clanker frowned "Your men will be accompanying us?"

"Of course, they're highly experienced, unlike the group of shiny's you have here. If they spot any errors that your troopers have made, they'll be sure to inform me. Then you can administer the correct form of discipline." Arachnid said.

Clanker was displeased, to say the least, that this commander was insulting his men and his leadership. Nevertheless, he bit his tongue.

"Of course, sir. This way, please. Mohawk, come along." Clanker said, leading the group to the entrance of the listening post "Everyone else, about your business."

The Bakkah station clones stood at ease.

"Of all the arrogant-!" Scorch hissed.

"Stow it, Scorch, if they catch you out of line, we'll all cop it." Soundwave said, although he was frowning underneath his helmet.

"Not very polite, are they?" Stun asked.

"Definitely not...you think all experienced clones are like that?" Indigo asked.

"I hope not..." Bishop murmured, thinking of his hatch-mate, who was off Force knew where, fighting on the frontlines.

"Still, I do envy them..." Stun said wistfully.

"Well, now that we don't have to stand around and get abused, I guess we should follow orders. Spanner?" Jolt said, looking to his friend.

"Right, time to work on the LAAT, I suppose. It sure beats that hunk of junk, that's for sure." Spanner muttered, giving a contemptuous glance in the direction of the shuttle.

"Off to the communications room for me then." Soundwave said as he walked off.

"And we have patrols to get to." Scorch said as he walked up to Bishop.

One by one, the clones marched off to fulfil their respective duties.

* * *

"So far, everything seems to be in...Adequate condition." Bdaris said as he surveyed the control room of the listening post.

"Thank you, general, we do our best." Clanker replied.

"Yes, you certainly have." Bdaris nodded, sounding slightly bored. Before he could continue, however, his com-link buzzed to life "Master Vractil? Come in."

In the palm of Bdaris' hand was the small holographic figure of the Anomid Jedi, Radek Vractil.

"Bdaris! This is-Kzzch-Transmitting aboard the LAAT/i Gunship, _Hypori _7, on Algarra II! Our base has been-Kzzch-Separatist forces! We need immediate assistance!-Kzzch-Under heavy fire!" Radek shouted to be heard over the sound of missiles going off.

"Master Vractil, hold on! We'll be back as soon as possible!" Bdaris attempted to reassure his friend.

"-Kzzch-Can't hold out much-!"

At that point, the transmission ominously cut out entirely.

"Master Vractil? Radek! Radek, come in!" Bdaris shouted into his com-link.

Behind him, Arachnid was also receiving a transmission, although of a vastly different kind.

"Sir!" Arachnid snapped to attention as a hologram of Mas Amedda sprang to life.

"Commander Arachnid, the Jedi have been deemed a threat to the Republic and to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. As a result, you have hereby been ordered to enact Order 66." Amedda said solemnly, before disappearing entirely.

"It will be done." Arachnid whispered, before turning to the clones "You heard him, you know what to do."

Slowly, the clone troopers upholstered their weapons and steadily walked towards their former commander.

At that point, Bdaris turned "Commander, we have to go back, immediately! Something has happened to-What is going on? Why have you-?" Bdaris asked, puzzled by the fact that the clones had their weapons out.

"Blast him!" Arachnid exclaimed as his finger tightened around the trigger of his blaster.

Bdaris surrendered his mind to the Force. With a snap-hiss, his lightsaber sprang to life and a vibrant yellow blade lit up. He quickly raised his hand, and Clanker, Arachnid and Yellowjacket were sent flying across the room. Before the others could open fire, Bdaris swung his lightsaber down, cutting through Mohawk's cybernetic hand as he raised his blaster.

"Argh! Blasted Jedi!" Mohawk cried out as he scrambled to get out of the reach of Bdaris' lightsaber.

"Open fire, quickly!" Razorback ordered.

The room was suddenly illuminated by dozens of blaster bolts flying across the room. With lightning quick speed however, Bdaris' lightsaber spun wildly, deflecting the bolts which were sent his way. Foundry cried out as his own reflected shot pierced his heart, and he toppled to the ground.

By this point, Clanker and Arachnid were back on their feet and joined their fellow troopers in their attack on the Jedi.

"He's too good! We have to fall back!" Flak cried out.

"Hold your ground! We must overwhelm him!" Arachnid roared.

Bdaris, however, had other ideas. With one quick flourish of his lightsaber, struck down Aerosol, who had ventured too close, cutting him from shoulder to hip and ending his life. Turning quickly, he plunged his blade into the chest of another unfortunate soldier, Razorback.

"Cut him down!" Arachnid shouted to the other clones.

Another one of the clones Bdaris and Arachnid had brought with them, Flak, was finished; cut in half at that hip as he turned to flee from the Jedi's wrath. The last clone that was still standing in Bdaris' path, Sprocket, raised his blaster carbine in a futile attempt to block his opponent's lightsaber, only for the blaster to be split in half and for the clone to receive a fatal strike.

"What now?" Mohawk hissed to Clanker as the survivors.

"Only one thing left to do." Arachnid murmured as he grabbed a thermal detonator, activated it and tossed it at Bdaris.

Bdaris gasped as he saw the projectile coming straight for him and dashed off down the corridor. There was a deafening roar as the explosive went off, and the four clones who were still alive were blinded by the explosion.

"Did we get him? Is he dead?" Yellowjacket asked.

"I doubt it, he took off fast enough!" Clanker spat.

"That coward! He ran off!" Mohawk exclaimed.

"Sergeant, I want you and your men to search this outpost. The general is an enemy to the Republic now and he must be stopped." Arachnid said calmly.

Clanker nodded and activated his com-link "Soundwave? Soundwave, report!"

"Yes, sergeant, what is it?" Soundwave asked from the communications room.

"Soundwave, I want you to listen to me very closely. I need you to put out a red alert, the Jedi is now an enemy of the Republic and Order 66 has been initiated. Notify everyone within the base to be on alert!" Clanker said to the communications officer.

There was a brief pause before Soundwave made his reply "Yes, sir, right away!"

Clanker sighed "Thank you. When you're done, lock down the communications room, I don't want to lose anyone over this."

A few moments later, Soundwave commed the sergeant back "Sir, I was able to alert everyone but Jolt and Spanner. Either they've turned their com-links off, _again_, or else the Jedi got to them."

Clanker's blood ran cold "Send Scorch to check on them, now!"

"Right away, sir." Soundwave said.

"We'll have to spread out and search for the general. Yellowjacket, you're with me. The sergeant and his...soldier can go another way." Arachnid said.

"Wait! Is it really wise to split up?" Clanker questioned.

"We have no choice, we need to find the general and find him quickly! Who knows what kind of damage he could do?" Arachnid snapped.

"And what about Mohawk? That damned Jedi cut his hand off!" Clanker pointed out as Mohawk picked up his severed limb.

"It's a cybernetic attachment, isn't it? There's no problem, he can get it reattached! For now he'll just have to wield a blaster in his left hand! Now stop griping and start searching! That's an order, sergeant!" Arachnid said.

Clanker scowled, but nodded "Very well, commander. Mohawk, you're with me."

Mohawk glared at Arachnid before walking off after his commanding officer "Yes, sergeant."

* * *

Elsewhere, Bishop and Indigo were searching in the generator room, nervous as to what they might find.

"You think we'll find the general in here?" Indigo whispered to Bishop.

"I don't know, we'll just have to find out." Bishop whispered back.

"And...What if we find him? You think we can take on a Jedi?" Indigo asked.

"Well, I guess...I guess we'll just have to keep our heads and hope for the best." Bishop said, then immediately regretted his choice of words.

"Keep our heads? That didn't do the prime much good when he fought a Jedi, did it?" Indigo asked sarcastically.

Before Bishop could make a retort, they heard something make a noise to their right.

"What was that?" Indigo hissed, raising his blaster rifle.

"Ssh! If it's the Jedi we'll-!"

"Plunk. Plunk." A gold plated PLNK-series power droid said as it waddled past.

Bishop sighed in relief "Just a power droid."

Indigo sat down and took off his helmet, revealing his brightly coloured hair, from which he received his name "You really think the Jedi could turn traitor?"

Bishop sat next to him, took off his helmet and exhaled "I don't know, but if we got the order, then I guess they must have."

"Didn't...didn't your hatch-mate fight alongside general Telnari?" Indigo asked.

Bishop looked down "Yeah, during a reconnaissance mission to Farquar III. Most of his squad was wiped out there. He said the general saved his life, if not for him, Rook would be dead."

"And now...now he's an enemy of the Republic. How does this happen?" Indigo asked bitterly.

Bishop sighed again and put his helmet back on "I don't know. Come on, we better get back to our search. Who knows what the general is planning?"

* * *

Stun, meanwhile, was also looking for Bdaris.

_Finally, this could be what I've been waiting for! Excitement at last! _Stun thought to himself, shaking with anticipation. _Just think, if I take down the traitor, I'll be a hero! Then I'll finally get off of this miserable, kriffing rock!_

A sudden noise made Stun turn. He peered around cautiously. Nearby was the armoury. _If the Jedi went in there, then he'd be trapped! I could take him out easy! _Stun thought with glee.

Stun moved slowly towards the armoury and entered it. The room appeared to be empty, _But looks can of course be deceiving, can't they? _Stun turned his attention to the weapons lockers. He slowly opened the first one and found nothing. The second, nothing. The third, nothing. The fourth, a flash of yellow suddenly bore down on the hapless clone trooper.

"Oh, he-!" Was all Stun could get out before he was struck down. Before he faded into the darkness, Stun thought one final thing _I wish I hadn't wanted excitement, I wish..._

Bdaris panted as he stood over the body of the dead clone. _What was going on? _He thought to himself, his mind ablaze. _Why have the clones turned on me? Is this some kind of Separatist trick?_ Bdaris shook his head, whatever the reason, he would have to get off of Bakkah as soon as possible. Surely a listening post would have some means of transportation. A shuttle or a LAAT, anything.

With one final glance at the clone which he had just killed, Bdaris ran off to find a way off world.

* * *

Not far away, Scorch was patrolling the storage room, where the speeder bikes were kept. He had decided against warning Jolt and Spanner. If they had been stupid enough to turn their com-links off during an inspection, then they deserved whatever happened to them.

"Jedi traitor, he's not gonna get far with me looking for him. Yeah, I'll get him." Scorch said to himself as he lifted up a tarp in search of the enemy.

A noise behind Scorch made in jump in fright. Scorch whirled around, only to see nothing.

"Must just be hearing things..." Scorch said nervously.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened and a bright yellow light illuminated the darkened space. Scorch gasped and ducked down, it was the Jedi! Scorch hid behind a crate as he heard the Jedi's footsteps. There was a brief ruffling sound as Bdaris seemed to examine something.

"Speeder bikes, perfect." Scorch could hear the Jedi murmuring to himself.

While Bdaris was seemingly distracted, Scorch leapt up and fired at the Jedi. However, with a mere flick of his wrist, the blaster bolt was deflected by Bdaris' lightsaber blade and hit a wall instead.

"You shouldn't have done that. I knew you were there, little clone. I would have spared you if you had stayed hidden." Bdaris said to Scorch.

Scorch instantly hit the ground and crawled around the crate, trying to find a new hiding spot. Behind him, he could clearly hear the Jedi as he made his way towards Scorch. Scorch tried to muffle a whimper as he darted behind a tarp covered speeder bike, hoping that he had not been seen. _If I can just get to the door..._

Scorch peered around the tarp, but could not see Bdaris. Steeling himself, he got up and made to run for the exit...

...Only to feel a hand on his shoulder, which pulled him back onto the blade of the Jedi's lightsaber. Bdaris wrenched it free of the clone's body, and Scorch let out a pained groan, before he collapsed. Deactivating his lightsaber, Bdaris turned and looked at the speeder bikes.

"I could take them, and...And then what? There are no settlements for kilometres, and even then, they'd just be Tusken Raider villages..." Bdaris said to himself.

He sat down and ran a hand through his hair. At this point, he was beginning to think that he would never escape this miserable ball of dirt. A thought suddenly occurred to Bdaris and he turned to the speeder bikes again.

"This might just work..." Bdaris muttered as his mind raced.

* * *

In the armoury, Clanker and Mohawk had just discovered Stun's corpse. Clanker clenched his fist in fury as he kneeled over the corpse of one of his men.

"He'll pay for this!" Mohawk said through clenched teeth.

"We'll get him, Mohawk, we'll get him." Clanker said solemnly as he crossed Stun's arms over his chest.

Suddenly, the pair heard a loud revving noise coming from nearby.

"That sounds like a speeder bike!" Mohawk exclaimed.

Clanker cursed "The storage room! Quickly, before he gets too far!"

The two rushed off to the storage room, just in time to see a robed figure on a speeder bike fly off into the desert.

"Frak!" Clanker snapped, before reaching for his com-link "Soundwave! I need all available men to come to the storage room! The Jedi is attempting to flee on a speeder bike! We'll need to pursue him!"

"Understood, sir. I'll send the order for everyone to meet in the storage room." Soundwave replied.

A few moments later, Arachnid, Yellowjacket, Indigo and Bishop were rushing into the room.

"Wait, where's Scorch?" A nervous Clanker asked.

"I haven't been able to get into contact with him, sir. I'm afraid that he's lost." Soundwave said, a touch of regret in his voice.

Clanker's face darkened. The Jedi would pay for this.

"We'll need to pursue the Jedi. With any luck, he won't have gotten too far." Clanker said as he unveiled five more speeder bikes.

"There aren't enough speeder bikes for all of us." Arachnid pointed out.

"No, so one of us will have to stay behind with Soundwave, in case the Jedi tries to return." Clanker said "Mohawk, you'll have to-"

"Actually, sergeant, I think it would be best if Yellowjacket remained behind. Frankly, I don't trust your men to apprehend the general, look what's happened so far." Arachnid broke in.

Clanker was furious at the commander's arrogance, but knew that there was no time to argue "Fine, everyone, mount up. We've got a traitor to catch."

Arachnid turned to his sole surviving soldier "Yellowjacket, you go find the communications officer and stay with him. If the general comes back, notify me immediately."

Yellowjacket nodded "I understand, sir!"

Arachnid put his hand on Yellowjacket's shoulder "Good man, let's make sure our brothers didn't die in vain."

Yellowjacket nodded as his commander and the others got onto the speeder bikes and rode off into the desert. As soon as they were all out of his sight, he turned and headed towards the communications room.

* * *

Bdaris panted as he rushed into the hangar of the listening post. With any luck, the clones would not uncover his deception until it was too late. Now, if he could just find what he was looking for, he could-

"General?" A surprised voice asked.

Bdaris' eyes widened and he quickly activated his lightsaber. Immediately, two clone troopers jumped back. One was dressed in old clone trooper phase-I pilot armour with what seemed to be a zillo beast's eyes and mouth painted on the helmet. The other was clad in the armour of a clone trooper engineer and was wielding a nasty looking shotgun which posed a significant risk to the Jedi.

"Stay back! I'm warning you!" Bdaris exclaimed as he raised his lightsaber defensively.

Jolt raised his hands up slowly "Easy there, general. We're not going to hurt you."

Bdaris looked confused "You're not? And why should I believe you?"

"Because we're on the same side, general. Now, just take it easy..." Spanner said, trading a confused glance with Jolt.

"Then you're not...You don't know?" Bdaris asked.

"Don't know what, sir?" Jolt asked, puzzled.

Bdaris lowered his lightsaber. For whatever reason, these two clones were not attacking him like the others had. Perhaps he could use this to his advantage...

"There's...there's been an attack! The clone troopers who came with me, they're not clone troopers!" Bdaris exclaimed quickly.

"Sir?" Spanner asked.

"They're BX-series droid commandos who were stowing away aboard my shuttle! They killed my men, and now they've done the same to the clone troopers here!" Bdaris said in a rush.

The two clones stiffened "Just like the attack on the Rishi outpost!" Spanner exclaimed in shock.

"Exactly! So, we're going to have to get out of here as soon as possible! Is there a LAAT nearby?" Bdaris asked.

"Well, yes, but shouldn't we try to fight the droids off, sir?" Jolt asked.

"Yeah, with you on our side, those clankers should be no trouble!" Spanner added.

Bdaris shook his head "Too risky, these...these are a new model. Proficient Jedi killers, we wouldn't stand a chance!"

"So, we flee, like cowards?" An indignant Jolt asked.

"There's no other option! We have to!" Bdaris snapped.

"But the LAAT won't be able to get far. There's no hyperdrive installed." Spanner pointed out.

"I don't care; it will just have to do!" Bdaris said.

"Uh, very well then, general, we'll just have to take a moment to prepare for liftoff." Jolt said as he and Spanner rushed off to prepare the LAAT.

"Right, be as fast as you can about it." Bdaris said as he ran towards the LAAT.

Making sure that the clones were not looking, Bdaris ducked inside the gunship and took a seat in the cockpit. Working quickly, he made sure to destroy the communications systems onboard to ensure that the clones could not be informed of what was really occurring.

"Right, we're ready, sir. We can take off." Jolt said as he and Spanner walked into the LAAT.

"Very good, trooper. Take us away." Bdaris said as he strapped himself into a seat and hoped for the best.

* * *

In the communications room, Soundwave and Yellowjacket were anxiously awaiting for news of the Jedi.

"The commander will catch him. He will, you'll see." Yellowjacket murmured.

"With any luck, he will. Although given the fact that the Jedi has already killed seven, maybe nine men, he'll have his work cut out for him." Soundwave said without taking his eyes off of the console in front of him.

"He will kill the Jedi!" Yellowjacket shouted, slamming his hands on a nearby console.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure he-Wait, what was that?" Soundwave asked as he began to hear a frantic beeping "That's the LAAT signal! It's taking off!"

Yellowjacket jumped up in surprise "What?-!"

Soundwave was confused for a moment as he struggled to realise what was happening "That's impossible! Jolt and Spanner must have-!" The credit dropped "They didn't get the order! Their com-links were switched off!"

"What? What's going on?" Yellowjacket asked.

"The Jedi has tricked them and he's getting away!" Soundwave exclaimed.

"I'll notify the commander at once!" Yellowjacket said as he pulled out his com-link.

* * *

Meanwhile, the other clone troopers were still racing after who they believed to be the Jedi.

"There he is, open fire!" Arachnid shouted as the group spotted the elusive speeder.

Mohawk and Arachnid quickly fired upon the speeder. Clanker however, noticed something odd.

"He's not dodging or trying to evade the shots. Why...?" Clanker said to himself, before realisation set in "Wait, that's not-!"

At that point however, the speeder that the group had been hunting struck a rock, cartwheeled through the air, rolled roughly on the ground, before coming to a stop.

"What the-?" Arachnid asked as he and the others pulled to a stop.

They dismounted from their vehicles and approached the downed speeder bike. As they drew nearer, they saw a figure clad in tattered, burned Jedi robes and clone trooper armour.

"Scorch!" Clanker exclaimed as he realised who it was they had been chasing.

Indeed, it had been Scorch, who's lifeless body had been tied to the speeder bike's throttle.

"Then where is the general?" A furious Arachnid said.

At that point, his com-link activated.

* * *

Back on the launch pad, Nova and Starlight were waiting outside of the shuttle, hoping for news of the Jedi.

"You think they'll get him?" Starlight asked his co-pilot.

"The general? Oh yeah, the commander is the best of the best. Not even a Jedi could stand up to him." Nova said.

At that point, the two heard a loud whooshing noise. A few seconds later, the listening post's LAAT flew past them, almost knocking the pair off of their feet.

"What in blazes do they think they're doing?" Nova exclaimed as he righted himself.

"They must be helping to look for the general." Starlight said.

"No, it looks like they're trying to break atmo." Nova replied as he followed the LAATs movement.

"Break atmo, but why would they...?" Starlight trailed off as clarity struck.

"Damn it! Get in the ship, quick!" Nova exclaimed as he ran for the shuttle.

* * *

Starlight's com-link went off, and Arachnid's voice came through "The Jedi is attempting to escape using a LAAT! Repeat, the Jedi-!"  
"We see 'im, commander! We're heading after him!" Starlight replied as he strapped himself into the cockpit "Nova, you take the guns!"  
Nova nodded as he raced off to man the ship's laser cannons.

* * *

Aboard the LAAT, Bdaris was shaken by what had just happened. _Why? Why would my own troopers turn on me? Is it some kind of Separatist trick? No, that can't be it, I've fought alongside Arachnid for the entire duration of the war, he'd never fall for a trick like that. Then what-?_

Bdaris was roused from his musings by Spanner calling out from the cockpit "General, we've breached atmo, any idea as to where we go next?"

Before Bdaris could reply, the ship rocked violently, and alarms went off within the ship.

"Frak! We're under attack! Looks like those droids don't want us to leave!" Jolt exclaimed.

"General, we need you to mount the anti-personnel laser turret, it should be near the door!" Spanner called out.

Bdaris nodded dumbly as he unstrapped himself from his seat and manned the turret. Even for a Jedi, hitting his target was difficult, as both ships were enacting evasive manoeuvrers.

"It's not looking good, they have superior speed and shielding!" Jolt said as another shot hit the LAAT.

"if we can just get behind them, we could launch a few missiles and-!" Spanner began, before a frigate suddenly dropped out of hyperspace in front of them.

"By the Force!" Jolt exclaimed.

"I recognise that ship! It's the Antarian Rangers ship, the _Order_!" Spanner said.

Bdaris' heart leapt. An Antarian Ranger ship out here?

A turbolaser bolt suddenly shot out from the _Order_ and struck the pursuing, causing it to explode in a flash of brilliant light.

"They must know about the droids!" Spanner exclaimed.

_They opened fire on a clone ship without provocation? Then perhaps-! _Bdaris' blood ran cold as he realised that perhaps the betrayal at Bakkah was not a lone incident.

"Hang on, they're powering up their weapons again! They must think we're hostiles as well!" Jolt cried out.

Bdaris leapt to his feet. No! It could not end like this! Not when he was so close, not after what he had just been through! There was only one chance. Bdaris reached out through the Force in an attempt to contact the captain of the _Order. Stop! We are not your enemy! This is Jedi Knight, Bdaris Telnari!_

There was a brief, terrifying moment of silence as Bdaris waited. Finally...

"They're weapons systems are powering down!" Spanner exclaimed, relief flooding into his voice.

Bdaris exhaled in relief, before slumping down into his seat.

* * *

"...And this is happening all over the Galaxy?" A stunned Bdaris asked the captain of the _Order._

"We regret to inform you that yes, it is." Gargos said to Bdaris, in a grave tone of voice.

"Is...Is there anyone still alive?" Bdaris asked.

"We cannot speak for the rest of the Jedi Order, but we did manage to save Jedi Knight, Alyss Vrax before her clones could execute her." Gargos said.

Bdaris' heart raced "Is she safe? May I see her?"

Gargos nodded "Of course. We've given her a room. She's resting off a nasty head wound she sustained, but she should be well enough to speak. I'm sure she'll be glad to know a fellow Jedi survived."

Bdaris nodded and made to walk off, but was stopped when Gargos placed a hand on his shoulder "Yes?"

"And what of them?" Gargos asked, motioning to Jolt and Spanner, who Bdaris had placed into a state of Force induced stasis shortly after arrival aboard the _Order _"Given the circumstances, I doubt any of my men would be comfortable with them aboard."

Bdaris nodded "Would you allow them to leave? Once the stasis wears off, they could pilot the LAAT back to Bakkah."

Gargos looked hesitant "You do not wish to kill them?"

Bdaris shook his head "They helped me to escape, even if they don't know from what. No, their lives would weigh on my conscious if I were to kill them."

Gargos sighed "Very well then, I shall permit them to leave."

"Thank you, captain." Bdaris said, before turning to find the other Jedi aboard.

* * *

"Hey there." Alyss Vrax said tiredly as she propped herself up in a seating position.

"Hello, general Vrax." Bdaris greeted.

"I don't think I'm a general anymore, actually. You can just call me Alyss."

"Alright then...Alyss." Bdaris said, uncertainly.

"So, they saved you too, huh?" Alyss asked.

"Yes, I was very fortunate in that regard. If not for them, I would have been killed."

"It was the same with me...I can't believe they turned on us. Sunny was my friend, and yet he tried to kill me." Alyss said, placing a hand over where the clone commander had struck her.

"I fought beside Arachnid since the very start of the war. From Sakiya, to Bestine IV to Algarra II..." Bdaris murmured.

"It really is...just unbelievable." Alyss said.

"Do you think...do you think that we're the only ones left?" Bdaris asked.

Alyss smiled and gently took Bdaris' hand "Not a chance. I'm sure Masters Yoda and Windu are fine, they're the strongest Jedi in the order after all. So is Skywalker for that matter. In fact, I bet the temple is still standing. That place is impregnable, I mean, it has so many Jedi there. Master Drallig, Master Ti, Master Piell, Master Kcaj, they were all stationed there. Yeah, I'm sure it'll be just fine and we'll get to the bottom of this."

Bdaris tried to smile "I hope you're right."

* * *

And, end of chapter 2. Well, I hope you enjoyed it, please remember to review and finally...thanks for reading!


	3. Standoff on Shinbone

Hello and welcome to the third chapter of Unexpected Places. Again, I do not own Star Wars, only a few OCs I made for this fic. Anyway, without any further ado, I hope you enjoy the following story, please remember to review and finally...thanks for reading!

* * *

"Was he your Master?" Alyss asked Bdaris as he stared at the tiny holographic figure of Radek Vractil.

"Hmm? Oh, no. He was a friend…he's probably dead now. It seemed that way the last time we were talking…" Bdaris said, shutting off the hologram.

The two were waiting in the cargo bay aboard the Antarian Ranger ship known as the _Order_. The ship had fled into Wild Space in order to avoid the wrath of the newly created Galactic Empire. Currently, it had landed on Shinbone in order to resupply. For their own safety, the Jedi had been confined to the ship for the duration of the stay.

"So, who was your Master?"

"Master Unaro Delto. He was a Togrutan Jedi Peacekeeper. He was also without a doubt one of the most violent and short tempered Jedi I knew." Bdaris said, a small smile on his face.

"Really? He sounds unusual for a Jedi." Alyss said.

"Oh, yes. I remember, he came back from a campaign on Moorja, he was absolutely furious! Apparently, a Neimoidian sniper wiped out the platoon Master Delto had been commanding. I later learned that he hired four bounty hunters to kill that sniper." Bdaris said, a hint of nostalgia creeping into his voice.

Alyss balked "And did they?"

Bdaris let out a laugh "Actually, they didn't. They all came back badly beaten and with bruised egos. Needless to say, Master Delto was less than pleased. He was nearly expelled from the Jedi Order when the council learned of it."

"He sounds like a real Grey Jedi." Alyss said.

"He certainly was." Bdaris said, still smiling "And what about your master?"

"I had three Masters. After my first Master died, my second Master was an Arcona, Kodu Terrafin. He was a Jedi Diplomat and he was training me to be the same." Alyss said, a smile forming on her own face. "He was only my Master for a short time, as I was soon given a new Mirialan Master, but I consider Master Terrafin to be my real Master."

"Any good stories to share?"

"Well, there was this one time on Makem Te. We were sent there to settle a dispute between one of the Caliph's there, Heeyto of Kalaa and the Temple of the Beatific Razor. During the negotiations, I noticed one of the Razor's slip something into my Master's tea. It was salt." Alyss recanted.

"Salt, really? Is that deadly to an Arcona?" A confused Bdaris asked.

Alyss shook her head "No, but it is very addicting. It would have sent my Master into a frenzy if I hadn't knocked the cup from his hand. Of course, that certainly ended the negotiations and the Caliph mounted an assault on one of the Razor headquarters. Me, my Master and a couple dozen Schinga Shikou riders were all going off to arrest a bunch of psycho cultists. You should have seen him, he was amazing. He knew how to dull his lightsaber blade so that it was like a blunt instrument. I never could figure out how to do that, unfortunately. Anyway, when we found the leader of the Razors, he pulled out a thermal detonator and tried to take us down with him."

Bdaris was riveted "So, what happened? How'd you escape that?"

"Like I said, Master Terrafin was amazing. The detonator went off, but he managed to shield the both of us using this Force shield or bubble, or something. Again, something I can't do. Once we were done, the Caliph told us that we would always be welcome in Kalaa and he threw this big parade for us." Alyss said, grinning.

"That sounds fantastic." An amazed Bdaris said.

"Actually, they ate all the Razors we had captured. It was a way of shaming them. Swokes Swokes are big on death and honour." Alyss explained.

Bdaris looked repulsed "Charming."

"Well, it is their way, I guess." Alyss said with a shrug.

A loud whining filled their ears, causing the pair to look up. They saw three STAPs, or Single Troop Aerial Platforms flying towards the ship. The two Jedi stood up to examine the new arrivals.

"Oh good, it looks like they're back." Bdaris said as the STAPs touched down in the cargo bay.

The figures dismounted and walked towards the Jedi. Leading them was the Zygerrian, Drumm Uspid, while behind him was the Aqualish, Eno Dagger and the Tactical droid, TC-56. TC-56, like the _Order _itself, had been captured in battle and subsequently reprogrammed to be totally loyal to the Antarian Rangers. To that end, he had been painted in the traditional red colours of the Galactic Republic, and the roundel of the Republic had been marked on his chest.

"So, how did everything go?" Alyss asked.

"The transaction occurred with very little difficulty, General." TC-56 replied "The others are using the refurbished Platoon Attack Craft to bring back the supplies as we speak."

"There were a few difficulties of course. Like the way everyone kept staring at Uspid. Everyone seemed terrified of him, like he was gonna snatch them up and run away." Eno said, chuckling slightly.

Drum scowled. Despite his species legendary reputation for slavery, Drum was one of the few who Zygerrians who opposed the practice. For his "weakness", he himself had been enslaved, only to be freed, along with a number of other captives by the Jedi Order.

"I understand the...apprehension of the locals. It is however, unfortunate that I am feared for the acts of my people." Drum muttered.

"If we could momentarily put aside our issues," TeeCee broke in "We should prepare for the arrival of our fellows. They will need our help to get the supplies onboard."

"Can't the droids handle it?" Eno asked "It's not like they do anything else."

"Captain's orders, everyone has to pull their own weight. Besides, that's not what they were made for." Drum pointed out.

"As if we're ever going to use them for anything else." Eno muttered as he rolled all four of his eyes.

"Is there anything new to report about the other Jedi?" Alyss asked.

Drum and Eno exchanged uneasy glances "Well...there has been an update regarding Master Even Piell..." Drum began.

Bdaris leaned forward expectantly "Yes? What about him?"

Drum cleared his throat and shifted his gaze to his boots "He's dead, General. The 501st cornered him in an abandoned building and...Well, I'm sure you can guess what must have happened."

A shocked Bdaris was forced to sit down "By the Force...But he was on the Jedi Council! How could he have fallen?"

"That only leaves masters Kenobi, Yoda and Shaak Ti. Four if you count master Kcaj, and he's listed as Missing in Action." Alyss muttered sadly.

"These are dark times, General. I fear that things will only get worse." Drum said solemnly.

* * *

Former admiral Ozzaris Vlanc was left reeling by what he had just been told. He had always known that he was destined to do great things, but he had never imagined something of this scale. He was now a Moff in the newly christened Galactic Empire. Emperor Palpatine himself had told Vlanc. It had been a reward for his loyalty to the Republic and to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, he had been told. While Vlanc was not completely sure of what this entitled or just how powerful this made him in the Empire, he did know that he was now in command of an entire sector of space. The Auril sector, home to the Separatist aligned planet of Murkhana and...Little else. The sector had been absolutely devastated following the destruction of the Cron Drift at the hands of Exar Kun's Sith Empire many thousands of years ago. Still, Vlanc was rather pleased that the Emperor himself had seen fit to place him in such a position of power. Despite his newfound power, Vlanc's mind was reeling over the conversation he had had with Palpatine only a few minutes earlier.

"Forgive me for asking; Sup...My lord, but what of the Jedi?" A hesitant Vlanc had asked, careful to make sure that the imposing figure of the Emperor's right hand, Darth Vader was not present. Vlanc had witnessed firsthand what had happened to Jace Dallin when he had brought up the subject of the Jedi.

"It is a rather unfortunate business, Moff Vlanc, but one that must be dealt with nevertheless." Palpatine had said.

"Are there none to be spared? Perhaps they could be reasoned with or-?"

Palpatine had abruptly cut him off "I think you underestimate just how devious a foe we are dealing with. You have already been informed of the extent of their treachery. Inciting the war in a mad bid to overthrow the Republic, committing acts of terrorism across the Galaxy and of course, trying to assassinate me. Were it not for the heroic sacrifice of Master Skywalker, I would be in much worse condition than I already am." Palpatine said, motioning to his badly scarred visage.

Vlanc tried to start again "But if Skywalker could see reason, then perhaps others could too? I understand a Jedi Knight gave her life in order to save a member of the 501st Legion from one of these rogue Jedi. And surely if Lord Vader-"

"Lord Vader is not a member of the Jedi Order. No, he is something else entirely, something far more powerful. As I said before, all of the surviving Jedi are to be considered enemies of the New Order and dealt with accordingly. There could be dire consequences to those who do not obey my orders...Am I understood, Moff Vlanc?" Palpatine had questioned, a noticeable edge to his voice.

"Yes, my Lord. I shall see to it that any Jedi I encounter will be put to death. As befitting a traitor to you or the Empire, it's what they deserve." Vlanc had said, nervously.

Palpatine smiled "Good, I see that you do understand after all. You are dismissed."

Vlanc shook off his uneasiness. He had a job to do after all. The _Harbinger _was waiting to take him to his new fortress on Murkhana, where his newfound rank could be best utilised. Vlanc smiled, _Yes_, he thought to himself, _I am destined to do many great things. _

* * *

On Shinbone, the Jedi were waiting for the arrival of the others with the supplies.

"Here they come." Alyss said as she peered through a set of electrobinoculars.

"About time." Eno muttered as he polished his vibro-bayonet.

Slowly, the PACs made their way towards the _Order, _carrying their heavy goods. There were four in all, each filled to bursting point with cargo.

"Everything go smoothly?" Drum asked the driver of the lead PAC, a Kadas'sa'Nikto by the name of Sonoro Basilisk.

"Hopefully, there may have been a little trouble back in town. There was a group eyeing us pretty suspiciously." Sonoro reported.

Drum looked troubled "Better load that stuff on as soon as possible. We don't want to just be sitting here if-"

Suddenly, a loud shot rang out. Not the usual blaster fire, but from a slugthrower. One of the PAC drivers abruptly slumped over in his seat, blood flowing freely from a wound in his chest.

"Back inside! Back inside!" Bdaris shouted as he shot up from his seat.

Drum and Eno quickly backed themselves into the cover of the ship while the remaining three PACs hurried back inside.

"Sense anything?" Drum asked as he reached for a set of electrobinoculars.

Bdaris shook his head "No, too far away. That must have been a sniper shot."

"I feel them. About thirty or so, and they're coming this way." Alyss reported as she reached for her lightsaber.

"Stang!" Sonoro cursed "Looks like we're going to be facing a raiding party!"

"Here they come!" Drum reported.

A large group of swoops were rapidly heading towards their position. Leading the charge was a heavily modified landspeeder, a repeating blaster crudely mounted to its back.

"Dagger, quickly, go back and acti-!" Sonoro began.

"Wait, they're slowing down!" Drum reported.

It was true, as the posse drew closer to the _Order_, they began to slow down. Soon, the group had come to a stop and the driver of the landspeeder and the apparent leader stepped out to face the Antarian Rangers. He the design of his armour, Alyss guessed that he was a member of the Ubese species. Unlike the majority of his crew, who were wielding slugthrowers, the leader seemed to be much better armed. He was wielding a DC-15s blaster carbine, but two blaster pistols were in holsters on his belt. Giving the area a cursory glance, he raised his rifle into the air and called out: "Bring out your Captain! I want a few words with him!"

Drum looked over his shoulder "Sonoro, go get the Captain. Dagger, go inform TeeCee of what's happening, he'll know what to do." Drum turned to face the Jedi "And I want you two to stay out of sight. We don't need this lot spreading tales of Jedi running around. Am I understood?"

As Sonoro and Eno rushed off to complete their respective duties, Alyss and Bdaris shared uneasy glances "...Yes, we understand." Bdaris said after a pause.

Drum nodded "Good, now wait here. I'll make sure this lot doesn't do anything until the Captain arrives."

* * *

The _Harbinger _sailed through Hyperspace towards its destination of Murkhana. In a few hours, it would arrive, and Moff Vlanc would formally decree his new position within the Empire. Vlanc was on the bridge, meeting with the new commanding officer of his former ship.

"Moff Vlanc, it is an honor to meet you." A young man said as he shook Vlanc's hand "I am Captain Bai Starkblast and I am pleased to have you aboard my vessel."

"Indeed." Vlanc said curtly, somewhat irritated to learn that someone as young and inexperienced as Starkblast would be captaining his old vessel. Not to mention reffering to it as his.

"I understand you met with Emperor Palpatine. He is a great man, truly an inspiration to us all." Starkblast said, a mad fervour in his eye.

"He is, truly one of the greatest men of our time." Vlanc replied.

"Not just one of the greatest! He is the greatest!" Starkblast exclaimed, spittle flying from his lips "He is a beacon of hope to us all! He is the wisest man to have ever lived!"

"Indeed." Vlanc repeated, somewhat unnerved. While Vlanc himself admired Palpatine, Starkblast seemed to worship him as if he were some sort of deity.

A clone commander stepped forward. Vlanc recognised the armour design. It was covered in purple striped and on each side of the helmet was a tiny sun.

"Sir, I am Clone Marshal Commander Corona, designation CC-3412. The 18th Solar Corp will be one of four Corps making up the backbone of the Auril sector military." The clone said, snapping to attention.

"I...see." A displeased Vlanc muttered "You are deceased Commander Sunny's replacement, I take it?"

"Yes, sir, his death was a great tragedy. If not for the Antarian Rangers, he would still be alive and the traitor would be dead." Corona said, a bitter edge to his voice.

"Did you ever fight alongside Knight Vrax, Commander?" Vlanc asked.

"Yes, sir, many times. We fought together in the Battle of Malastare, the Battle of Umbara, the Battle of Jilrua, the Battle of Alderaan, the Battle of-"

Doubtlessly, the list would have gone on for quite some time had Vlanc not held up a hand to stop Corona "And would you say that during your time together you grew close? Formed some kind of bond?"

Corona paused "Is...Is this some form of test, sir?"

Vlanc shook his head "No test, I am merely curious."

Corona tilted his head, seemingly curious, but continued on nevertheless "Yes, sir, I guess...I guess you could say we were friends. She saved my life on Umbara. My company was pinned down by enemy fire and we were losing men. I don't know if you've seen them, but the Umbaran military has some strange vehicles, some you wouldn't even believe. Quite a sight really, or they would have been, if they hadn't been decimating my brothers. It looked like it was over for us until the General flew overhead in a captured Umbaran starfighter and cut through their ranks. In the confusion, my platoon managed to escape."

"That battle was also the one where that traitor, Krell revealed himself!" Starkblast snarled "We should have known back then that the Jedi were a pack of lying, double crossing-!"

Vlanc turned and coldly glared at Starkblast "Captain, if I require your input, I will ask you for it. Am I understood?"

A stunned Starkblast took a step back "Of...Of course, sir."

Corona, meanwhile, was staring at his feet "She kept that starfighter, you know. She painted it in the colours of the Republic and the Solar Corps. It's still in the hangar..."

Vlanc raised an eyebrow "And what if General Vrax were to appear right now? What would you do?"

Corona looked up at Vlanc and slowly took his helmet off. The battle scarred face was grim and perhaps even slightly sorrowful, but certain "For the good of the Empire, I would shoot her."

Vlanc exhaled "I see. Thank you, Commander, I think I've learned all I can from you. You are dismissed."

Corona put his helmet back on and saluted "Very good, sir."

Without a word, Vlanc strolled over to the windows of the bridge and gazed out into hyperspace. _Is this all for the best? Is it really? _Vlanc thought to himself.

* * *

Jericho Gargos strolled down the boarding ramp of the _Order _to face the gang who was threatening it. Accompanying him was TC-56 and six well armed Antarian Rangers.

"I am in command of this vessel. What is it exactly that you want?" Gargos asked shortly.

The Ubese who was in command stepped forward in order to address Gargos: "We want the bounty that's on this ship."

Gargos blinked "Bounty?"

"That's right, fishy, there's a substantial bounty on a _Munificent_-class star frigate matching the description of this one. Red colouring, the Galactic Republic symbol emblazed on both sides, yeah, this is the one we want." The Ubese said "We hear there's a couple o' Jedi aboard. With the collective prices on their heads, I could retire to a Core world planet."

"And what happens to the rest of us?" Gargos asked.

"You'll be sold into slavery, most likely." The Ubese said coldly.

Gargos narrowed his eyes "I see. Tell me, what is your name?"

The Ubese laughed "You think you can ask my name? What good will it do you, fishy?"

"I am simply curious."

"Alright then, it's Sadix, happy now?"

"Alright, Sadix, I will give you some advice, and you would be wise to follow it. You and your men will turn around right now and go back to the wasteland that you call a home. Failure to comply will result in your death. Am I understood?" Gargos asked, glowering at Sadix.

Sadix laughed "Do you take me for a fool? I know there are only twenty-four, sorry, better make that twenty-three," Sadix motioned towards the inert PAC "Antarian Rangers aboard. The bounty listed all of you. There are thirty-seven of us, not to mention my landspeeder. My heavily armed landspeeder."

Gargos sighed "Do you know how many men it takes to crew a _Munificent_-class star frigate?"

Sadix narrowed his eyes from beneath his helmet,"No, what the hell does that matter?"

"It takes two hundred. Now, if there were only twenty-four of us, how could we have gotten this ship flying?"

Sadix tensed up "What are you getting at?"

"In addition, each _Munificent_-class star frigate can carry up to 150,000 battle droids. Did you know that?" Gargos continued.

"So? What does that have to do with anything?" Sadix snapped.

Gargos nodded to TeeCee, who raised his hand in the air. Immediately, scores of battle droids surged out of the ship. They ran the gamut from the standard B1 battle droid infantry, to D-60 assault droids, a variant of the B2 super battle droid, to a number of DSD1 dwarf spider droids to even a handful of Octuptarra combat tri-droids. A horrified Sadix took a few steps back. Behind him, his gang were similarly shocked.

"As I said, you would be wise to turn around and _walk away_." Gargos said dangerously, his voice little more than a whisper.

Sadix, against all reason attempted to hold his ground "And, if I refuse? Would you gun me and my men down? That's hardly a fair fight, not even forty men against thousands of your stolen battle droids!"

Gargos sighed "TeeCee, let's be fair...only send sixty droids to deal with Sadix and his little group."

TeeCee nodded and pointed forward. Instantly, a mixed group of exactly sixty droids stepped forward, blasters raised. An Ithorian thug made to grab his pistol, only to receive a blaster burn to the hand from a D-60 assault droid in return. The message was quite clear.

Gargos narrowed his eyes at Sadix "You have until the count of twenty to leave."

Sadix took another step backwards, before stopping and pulling out his blaster "No! I will not be made a fool of! ATTACK!" And at that he fired on Gargos.

"Get down!" TeeCee shouted as he shoved Gargos out of the way, taking the blast in the Captain's stead.

Gargos and his men ducked as Sadix's gang added their own firepower to the mix. The gunner on the landspeeder began to spray the _Order _with blaster fire.

"All forces open fire!" Gargos commanded.

Instantly, the droid forces charged on the hapless gang. Shots rang out from both sides and the casualties quickly started to mount.

"Get out of my way!" Sadix snapped as he shoved the landspeeder's Ipharian-Da'Lor gunner out of his seat and took it himself.

From the cargo bay, the two Jedi watched the battle.

"Look at that, he's cutting down dozens of battle droids." Bdaris said, shaking his head at the waste.

"He's going to permanently offline them if he's not stopped." A worried Alyss said.

"You think we should...?" Bdaris began.

"Get involved even though we were forbidden to? Because yes, I think that's exactly what we should do." Alyss said, a mischievous gleam in her eye.

"Well then, why are we simply standing around then?" Bdaris grinned as he activated his lightsaber.

"TeeCee! TeeCee, do you still function?" Gargos shouted to be heard over the din of the battle.

The downed battle droid weakly turned his head, his optics dimmed "Aff...Affirmative, Captain. However, I am running at only half capacity. I fear that I may suffer permanent damage unless I am repaired soon."

Gargos nodded "Don't worry, we'll get you fixed up."

"Uh, sir, I think you had better take a look at this..." One of the Rangers that Gargos had taken with him said.

Gargos followed the man's finger and saw the Jedi leap out of the cargo bay and rush towards Sadix "Stang! What in blazes do they think they're doing?-!"

"Interesting...previously the probability of success was at seventy-five percent. Now that the Jedi involved, there is a one hundred percent chance of success-ess-ess." TeeCee said, glitching somewhat at the end.

While Bdaris quickly slashed his way through the opposing swoop gang members, Alyss was using a different approach. Utilising the fourth lightsaber form, Ataru, the Mirialan Jedi Knight was effortlessly using her agility and speed to her advantage. She deftly leapt from foe to foe, striking them down before they could blink. The droids soon ceased fire, not wanting to accidentally hit the Jedi. Alyss jumped onto a dwarf spider droid, crouched down and tapped its head.

"Alright, ya overgrown bug, make a left." Alyss ordered the droid.

The droid complied and swivelled to face the marauding landspeeder. Sadix was using the lull in battle to mow down as many droids as possible. Bdaris, however, whistled and almost instantly, a number of droidekas rushed forward and activated their shields, effectively blocking the shots.

"Kriffing machines!" Sadix snarled, before noticing Alyss and the dwarf spider droid.

"And...Fire!" Alyss commanded, leaping off of the droid before it could do so.

Sadix gave out a cry of alarm and dove from his speeder, escaping mere seconds before it went up in flames. Seeing their leader's vehicle destroyed, the few surviving gang members raced away as quickly as possible.

"Come back here and fight, you miserable, kriffing cowards!" Sadix screamed, firing at his men as they fled.

Sadix turned to find himself totally alone and at the mercy of the droids. Bdaris and Alyss closed in on him.

"It's over Sadix, go home." Bdaris said.

"It's not over, Jedi scum! You will pay for everything you have done!" Sadix shouted as he reached over his back and brought out a lightsaber, activating it to show off an orange blade "You're not the first Jedi I've fought! Now, which one of you wants to die first?"

Bdaris turned to Alyss, who shrugged "Hey, you're the Djem So expert, I'm more of an Ataru and Niman oriented fighter."

Bdaris sighed "Alright then, I'll make sure he takes no more lives."

The Jedi and the Ubese faced off, slowly circling each other. After what seemed like an agonising amount of time, Sadix rushed forward, stolen lightsaber held high. He made a wild slashing motion, which Bdaris parried easily. Sadix followed it through with a stabbing thrust, which the Jedi avoided effortlessly. Sadix let out a roar and made several more attacks on Bdaris, all of which were deflected with relatively little difficulty.

"I must say, I am rather disappointed. Perhaps you have skill with a blaster, but with a lightsaber you are sadly outclassed." Bdaris said as he blocked yet another attack.

"Your taunts are meaningless, Jedi! I will kill you! I will kill both of you!" Sadix snarled.

"Oh, I don't think so." Bdaris said simply.

Sadix let out another battle cry and made to charge Bdaris, the stolen lightsaber angled squarely at the Jedi's stomach. Bdaris, however, leapt over his opponent and swung his lightsaber. Sadix's ill gotten lightsaber and his helmet covered head toppled to the ground.

"Well, that was rather short." Alyss said as she approached Bdaris.

"Indeed, with skills like that I wonder how he even acquired a lightsaber in the first place." Bdaris said as he reached down to pick up his newly acquired lightsaber.

Alyss shrugged "Who knows? Maybe he really was a skilled marksman. Maybe he ambushed whoever owned it with superior numbers. I guess we'll never really know."

Bdaris examined Sadix's lightsaber. It was finely made, that was certain and like had a unique design. What looked like a bayonet blade jutted out near the blade emitter and it had four downward facing spikes near the bottom of the hilt, which was rounded.

"I guess I'm going to be learning how to wield two lightsabers now." Bdaris muttered as he clipped the lightsaber to his belt.

Gargos looked around at the carnage "Drum, you go and take TeeCee to be repaired. I want everyone else to start salvaging the droids. With any luck most of them are in repairable condition. I want to get out of this system as quickly as possible! And you two," Gargos pointed at the Jedi "Get back on the ship!"

While Alyss walked back towards the _Order_, Bdaris stopped after a few steps. He had inadvertently kicked Sadix's severed head. Bdaris bent down to pick it up, wanting to examine the helmet. He shook the head free, revealing Sadix's head, pale and devoid of any hair at all.

"It might just be useful to keep this..." Bdaris murmured as he peered closely at the helmet, before putting it on "Never know when a disguise could come in handy." His voice came out distorted by the helmet, sounding somewhat artificial.

"Hey, Bdaris, let's go!" Alyss shouted.

And at that, Bdaris rushed off after her.

* * *

"Here we are, sir. Murkhana." Captain Starkblast announced, motioning to the planet, which slowly rotated.

Vlanc peered out at the planet which was now to be his new home and seat of power. For the first time in days, Vlanc allowed himself to smile. From here, he would do many, many great things.

* * *

To make things clear, I do not accept the Citadel arc of Star Wars the Clone Wars to be canon, hence why Even Piell was only recently reported to have died. For future reference, I also don't think any episodes written by Katie Lucas are canon either, so if Ventress is mentioned, she'll be a Rattaki, Maul will still be dead and there won't be any laser bows. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the fic, please remember to review and finally...thanks for reading!


	4. Battle for Murkhana

Welcome to the fourth chapter of Unexpected Places. Last chapter, Admiral Vlanc was promoted to Moff of the Auril sector and is now in command of the 18th Solar Corps, the same group of clones who attempted to kill Jedi Knight Vrax. What happens next? Read on to find out! Without further ado, I hope that you enjoy the following story, please remember to review and finally...thanks for reading!

* * *

On the _Harbinger_, Moff Vlanc was admiring what had once been the personal starfighter of Jedi Knight, Alyss Vrax: The _Mirialan's Eye_. As Clone Marshal Commander Corona had said, it had indeed been painted in the colours of the Republic. The ship was bright red, with the exception of the wings, which had alternating green and blue triangles on them; representing lightsabers. On the right wing was the symbol of the Galactic Republic, while on the left was the emblem of the 18th Solar Corps, a violet sun. Vlanc was startled to realise that this was the first time he had seen the ship up close.

"Magnificent..." Vlanc murmured as he placed a hand on the side of the vessel.

He remembered when he had first set foot on Murkhana, what seemed like a lifetime ago. As he stepped off of the _Harbinger_, he had turned to Captain Starkblast in order to make a request.

"Captain, before I leave my old ship, may I ask for a small favour?"

"Of course, Moff Vlanc. So long as it is in my power, I shall do so." Starkblast had replied.

"Good. I would like to have one of the droids who serve aboard this ship, to serve as a memento of my time aboard it. Can you do that for me, Captain?" Vlanc had asked.

Starkblast had seemed puzzled by this request, but after a brief pause, he hesitantly nodded "I believe that I can spare a droid for you, sir. One moment, I shall find one suitable for you."

A few minutes later, a silver plated R2 unit with black and white trimming was rolling towards Vlanc.

"Moff Vlanc, this is R2-E7. His records inform me that he is a very reliable and competent droid. He is perfect for your needs." Starkblast had informed Vlanc.

Vlanc nodded, remembering passing the droid a few times in the corridors of the ship "Thank you, Captain. You have my gratitude. Come along, Eseven, we have much work to do."

As Vlanc had walked off, the astromech droid followed closely behind him, making the odd whistle or beeping sound as it did so.

From his citadel, Vlanc had been able to see a great deal of Murkhana City. It was certainly an impressive view. Still, Vlanc had felt somehow incomplete and restless. Thinking that it had been perhaps because he was no longer serving in the Navy, Vlanc had decided to return to the _Harbinger_, under the pretence of a shipboard inspection. Still, Vlanc did not feel satisfied. Remembering what Corona had said, Vlanc had decided to see the Jedi's ship for himself.

"Indeed, truly magnificent..." Vlanc murmured as he gazed at the ship.

Seeing the ship and remembering the Jedi who had served aboard the vessel, Vlanc realised that the restless feeling was dissipating. He fondly recalled his experience with the Mirialan Jedi and her Master, the Arcona, Kodu Terrafin, as well as the other Jedi that Vlanc had served alongside. He remembered seeing her flying prowess during the Battle of Garnib, where General Vrax had downed a considerable number of Vulture droids. During the Battle of Ooo-Sek, Vlanc had personally fought alongside the Jedi who had been sent to recapture it; General Vrax had been among them. Vlanc frowned when he remembered Ooo-Sek. That had been an absolute massacre; seven Jedi and countless clone troopers had lost their lives at the hands of the Horror of Hypori, the Butcher of Belderone. Vlanc ceased to think of these distant memories and hoped that wherever she was, she was safe.

"Lord Vlanc? I hate to disturb you, but you're needed planetside." A young ensign by the name of Farador Walker said as he approached the Moff.

"What is it this time?" A weary Vlanc asked.

"Sir, the Corporate Alliance Headquarters are currently under siege. The Corporate Alliance refuses to yield to your forces." Walker replied.

"But the droid armies are deactivated, how can they resist us?" Vlanc asked, remembering that he had yet to work out what to do with all the deactivated droid forces which littered the streets of Murkhana City.

"Well, that is true for the majority sir. However, the ones being used by the Corporate Alliance Holdout in the Argente Tower are running on a different signal, hence why these ones are still up and fighting. In addition to this, they are using Koorivar Fusiliers in conjunction with vehicles of their own design, such as Corporate Alliance Heavy Artillery tanks and Heavy Energy Pummels." Walker explained.

Vlanc nodded "Tell my shuttle to prepare for my departure. I shall be down momentarily." Vlanc paused before he added "Oh, and get a crew down here. I wish to have this ship taken to my citadel."

Walker cocked his head to the side in puzzlement "Sir? The Captain might not take too kindly to that. He wanted the ship to be destroyed because it belongs to "Jedi scum"." Walker said, mimicking Captain Starkblast.

"Well, I outrank the Captain and I wish to have the ship." Vlanc said as he stared the ensign down.

"Very good, sir, I'll have someone take care of it right away." Walker said, making to walk off before Vlanc stopped him.

"Ensign?" Vlanc called out.

Walker stopped and turned to face his superior "Yes, sir? Is there something else you require?"

"Just a simple question, ensign, and then you can be on your way. Do you believe that the Jedi are traitors to the Empire?" Vlanc asked.

Ensign Walker's eyes darted back and forth, as if someone was listening in on the pair "Why, sir, Emperor Palpatine himself said that-"

Vlanc broke in and cut him off "I don't care what Palpatine says, I want to know what you think."

Walker glanced around nervously, before he made his reply in a hushed whisper "No, sir, I don't. It just seems so sudden and absurd. The Jedi defended the Republic, how could they go and betray like that? I don't doubt Palpatine, but surely there must have been some kind of misunderstanding! Perhaps there was some kind of coup within the Jedi Order, but I simply cannot believe that they are all our enemies."

Vlanc nodded "Thank you, ensign. You may go now."

As Vlanc turned to walk back to his ship, the ensign called out "Sir? What do you believe?"

Without turning around or breaking stride, Vlanc answered: "Very much the same thing, ensign!"

* * *

When Vlanc touched down outside of the ArgenteTower, he had been expecting his forces to face perhaps a number of B1 infantry battle droids. Instead, he was face to face with quite a number of NR-N99 _Persuader-_class droid enforcers. Even as they were butchering the stormtroopers that were under his command, Vlanc could not help but admire their sheer power. Whatever clones were avoiding their blaster fire or concussion missiles; they were crushing under their treads. Complimenting them were a number of Heavy Artillery tanks, who were bombing the stormtroopers from afar and slow moving Energy Pummels, who were cutting through the Imperial vehicles like butter, safely protected from blaster fire by thick armour. Alongside them were the organic foot soldiers of the Corporate Alliance, the Koorivar Fusiliers. The stormtroopers meanwhile, were limited to infantry and a handful of All Terrain Attack Pods and a mere two All Terrain Tactical Enforcers.

As he fired at a Heavy Artillery tank, Corona looked up to see Vlanc walking towards him and did an immediate double take.

"Sir, when I requested your presence, I meant for you to go to your citadel. It's too dangerous for you here!" Corona exclaimed as Vlanc ducked behind him.

"Nonsense, this won't be my first ground based battle, Commander. Now, tell me about the situation." Vlanc said calmly as he pulled out a blaster pistol.

"It's problematic, to say the least, sir. The droids and the Koorivar have us heavily outgunned. We're waiting for artillery support, but it could take a while for them to get here. By that time, we'll probably all have been slaughtered." Corona muttered bitterly as he reloaded his DC-15A blaster rifle.

"And what of the building itself, Commander?" Vlanc asked as he gazed at the imposing structure of the Argente Tower, which loomed over them.

"The walls are ray shielded and have a number of turbolaser turrets attached. I must say, they're well prepared for a siege." Corona acknowledged somewhat reluctantly.

"It really is quite impressive..." Vlanc murmured to himself.

"Yes, and they're wiping out our forces!" Corona pointed out.

"If we could take control of forces like that, we'd gain significant firepower. Attacks like these would be sure to decrease." Vlanc said as he observed a line of droids smash through a fortified barrier that the clones had constructed.

"Well, why don't you take that up with whoever's in charge when we kick his door down and drag him out?" Corona suggested as he stood up and effortlessly gunned down three Koorivar soldiers as they approached their position.

"So, what do you suggest then?" Vlanc asked as he similarly rose and fired at a Fusilier as he reloaded his weapon.

"At this rate we're going to have to order a retreat and bomb the damn building from orbit. It's only way to be sure." Corona said as he threw a LXR-6 concussion grenade at one of the droid enforcers, which seemed to do very little damage.

"Bomb it? If we did that we'd risk high civilian casualties!" Vlanc exclaimed.

Corona shrugged "True, but they'd just be Koorivar. They allied with the damn Seppies; it's not really much of a loss."

Vlanc's blood boiled in anger "I will not order such an action! I don't care if the Corporate Alliance Holdout marches out and takes my citadel, I will not run the risk of murdering civilians!"

"We're losing men at a rapid pace, if we don't take care of this insurrection now, it may inspire others to rebel!" Corona exclaimed.

"I am your Commanding Officer, clone! My rank far surpasses yours!" Vlanc shouted.

Corona snarled "So, it's going to be like that, is it...Sir?"

Before Vlanc could make his reply, a loud explosion rang out as a Heavy Artillery tank fired on a nearby position, sending dozens of stormtroopers flying in the air, their bodies broken. The enforcer droids quickly rushed in for the kill while the clones were disoriented. What few vehicles were left were soon destroyed when the Energy Pummels swept in and began to break them down.

"Stang!" Corona cursed before activating his com-link "All forces pull back! They're gaining too much ground!"

At that, a number of LAAT/i pulled in to evacuate the surviving clones from the area. Turbolaser and artillery fire ripped through the air, downing a number of the escape craft. Corona and Vlanc rushed to get aboard the closest transport, a LAAT with a needler crab firing a missile painted on the side. As the _Cluster Crab _and other LAAT pulled away from the battle, the enforcer droids, vehicles and Koorivar began to retreat back to the Corporate Alliance Headquarters in the Argente Tower, packed tightly together into defensive positions.

"It would seem that they know they cannot hope to retake Murkhana." Vlanc noted.

"No, but they'll dig in and defend this building to the last man." Corona muttered sullenly.

"I must admit, I do somewhat admire their resolve. Surely they know that they cannot win in the long run?" Vlanc said.

"No, but we'll suffer heavy casualties, especially since you won't authorise orbital bombardment." Corona said, the resentment heavy in his voice.

"There other ways to win a battle, Commander, you'll see." Vlanc reassured the clone as the _Cluster Crab _retreated to a safe distance.

* * *

"Sir, the Imperial forces have retreated." Head of Security, Colonel Leosa Vantare reported, standing proud in his red armour and metal boots, his blaster rifle slung over his shoulder, barrel still smoking, having recently seen combat. A scar ran over his right eye, having lost it in the Battle of Boomis Koori IV, what remained had been replaced by an electronic patch.

"Excellent. They are wise not to prolong the siege; they would have been crushed otherwise." Acting Magistrate of the Corporate Alliance on Murkhana, Shand Essil replied as he stood over the balcony and watched the stormtroopers scamper off to lick their wounds.

"But how long can we hold out? They will bring heavy artillery and siege weaponry. Not even our forces can hold out against that kind of firepower." Leosa said, shuddering at the thought of weaponry such as the Self-Propelled Heavy Artillery.

"Our show of force will have certainly made them desperate. However, I suspect that we will be reinforced long before times become desperate." Shand said.

"But we have received no word from Passel Argente or any other members of the Separatist Council! Grievous and Dooku are dead and the majority of our forces have been deactivated! From who will we receive reinforcements?" Leosa questioned.

"Calm yourself, Colonel. We are not the only Separatists to still defy the Imperials. I know the Trade Federation is unhappy with the threat of being dissolved, they will surely fight back. On Geonosis, the battle droids run on a separate signal and will continue to function. Why, there is even a large cache of battle droids and weaponry on Mygeeto, just waiting for someone to claim it!" Shand reassured his second in command.

"And if we are not reinforced? What then, sir?" Leosa asked.

Shand shrugged "Then we shall work something out, I assure you. The Corporate Alliance shall not fall to this so called Galactic Empire, no. We will survive this threat and thrive!"

Leosa was uncertain, but in the end, his loyalty to his employer won out "My Fusiliers are at your disposal, sir. We will fight to the bitter end."

Shand smiled, his yellow eyes twinkling "Excellent, Colonel. Now, why don't we take this lull in the fighting as an opportunity to come up with some strategies to repel future attacks? Perhaps fortify and expand our territory? The Imperials did not beat us now and we will continue to ensure that they never do!"

* * *

On the planet of Pypin, deep within Wild Space, the Jedi and a small group of Antarian Rangers were searching for information. Accompanying Alyss Vrax and Bdaris Telnari were two Codru-Ji, Talia and Io, the Kel Dor Poe Tac, the Tarnab Ailan Hel-For, the Menahuun known as Suka, the Krish Sig Salza and the Zygerrian Drum Uspid. In order to avoid notice, the Antarian Rangers had shed their usual leather jackets in favour of civilian clothing. The Jedi meanwhile, had adapted in other ways. Bdaris wore the helmet of the late Ubese bounty hunter Sadix to conceal his face. Alyss, on the other hand was trying to pass herself as a Mikoan, using a set of goggles to cover her orange eyes, a scarf to cover the tattoos on her face and a set of black gloves to conceal the ones on her hand.

"Very inconspicuous." Talia had muttered sarcastically.

"Best I can do short of using Jedi mind tricks on everyone we come across." Alyss said with a shrug.

The group was attempting to find any information on surviving Jedi and their possible locations.

"Any luck?" Bdaris asked Ailan as he and Suka came within earshot.

The Tarnab shook his head "There's not a lot of information out here regarding the Jedi. This planet missed all the action."

"Yeah, real shame that." Suka said as he rolled his gigantic eyes.

"We didn't have much success either," Io said as he and Talia approached "There have been rumours of a Jedi hiding out somewhere in the Bothan Sector, but they seem to be just that, rumours."

"The Imperials don't seem too interested in searching for this rumoured Jedi. That makes the claim somewhat dubious." Talia added.

Drum and Alyss walked up "Anything?" Bdaris asked.

The pair simply shook their heads.

Just as the group was about to give up any hope, Sig and Poe came into sight.

"We have discovered a potential lead." Poe whispered to the assembled Jedi and Rangers.

"Yes? Go on." Bdaris prompted.

"There was a Jedi Master on Acherin. He was in the process of negotiating with a bunch of Separatists when the clones betrayed him. There's been no official word on it, but apparently, the Jedi managed to escape with the help of the Seppies." Sig explained.

Alyss and Bdaris exchanged eager glances. Another Jedi, especially a Jedi Master could greatly aid them in restoring the Jedi Order if he were to be found and rescued. Not to mention the added advantage of having someone of his wisdom and power around.

"We'd best get back to the ship then, no use in hanging around here. Not exactly safe, is it? Corporate Sector's practically working for the Imperials now." Io said, looking around nervously.

"Let them come, see how much good it does them..." Talia said, a wicked grin on her face as she made to take out a blaster pistol.

"Ahem, guys? There's something you should see..." Drum said, clearing his throat and pointing to a nearby wall.

Being put up were a number of wanted posters. All of them concerning Jedi. There were apparently a number of them still on the run. Aside from the four surviving council members, there was Rahm Kota, Olee Starstone, Kazdan Paratus, the Dark Woman, Garen Muln, Beyghor Sahdett, Tholme and others.

And one in particular caught Bdaris' attention.

Bdaris' eyes widened in shock when he saw him on the poster. He was sure that he had been killed when Order 66 had been initiated, sure of it!

"Well, it seems more Jedi survived than the Imperials would have liked." Poe noted.

"Certainly seems that way." Sig agreed "If we can find even a few of them..."

Suddenly, a shadow passed over the group, causing them all to turn to see what had caused it.

"Whoa!" A stunned Drum exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"That's a lot of firepower..." Talia said.

"I don't believe it." Sig murmured.

Looming over the nearby shipyard was a massive _Recusant_- class light destroyer, completely blotting out the sun.

"What is that doing here?" An edgy Talia asked.

"A possible Separatist Holdout?" Sig offered.

"Unlikely, look, you can see that the Separatist Roundel has been replaced with the Corporate Sector logo." Poe noted, pointing it out.

Overhearing them, a Corporate Sector security official walked up "I see you're admiring the Corporate Sector's latest purchase."

"Where did you acquire such a vessel?" Bdaris asked, grateful that his helmet disguised his voice, making it sound synthetic.

"It was bought from the Galactic Empire, along with seven others of its kind. It seems that we're going to be expanding our business soon. With weapons like that, it'll sure be easy!" The security official chuckled at that, before walking off.

The group exchanged uneasy glances.

"Perhaps we should get back to the ship?" Io offered.

As the group walked off, Talia took one last gaze at the ship "Kriffing lucky CS goons, getting all the heavy weaponry..."

"Talia, let's go!" Ailan shouted out "You can leer at the ship when we leave!"

* * *

On Murkhana, Vlanc and Corona were in Vlanc's fortress, planning on how to best the Corporate Alliance Holdouts.

"If we bring in the V-Wing starfighters to distract their turbolaser turrets, we can follow up by bringing in our AV-7 Antivehicle Cannons to deal with their enforcer droids and Energy Pummels. " Vlanc said as he studied a holographic image of Argente Tower.

"We run the risk of high casualties if we do that." Corona noted discouragingly.

Vlanc sighed "I know, those Q7-series astromech droids are expensive."

Corona bristled "I was talking about the clone pilots!"

Vlanc shrugged and tried to seem as casual as possible, in order to purposely offend the clone "From there, we can hammer their artillery pieces with our AT-TEs. When that happens, negotiations begin."

"Negotiations? With a bunch of Seppies?" An outraged Corona asked.

"They have something I want, Commander. I will ensure that I acquire it." Vlanc said, staring into the eyes of the stormtrooper opposite him.

"Why don't we just carpet bomb the area with our BTL-B Y-wing starfighters?" Corona questioned as his anger mounted.

"Commander, these orders will be carried out to my exact specifications because I want the building to be intact when I see it. Because I want the leader of this little rebellion alive and because I want to do this with as few Koorivar casualties as possible." Vlanc said, glaring at Corona.

Corona sputtered in sheer disbelief "You want to spare those Separatist scum?-! You're a Separatist sympathiser!" Corona cried out in outrage as he pulled out a blaster pistol and aimed it squarely at Vlanc's head.

Vlanc calmly stared down the clone "Let me assure you, Commander, that I am by no means a Separatist sympathiser. However, those Corporate Alliance thugs have something that I wish to acquire. They have something that will be much easier to obtain if they are alive."

"And what would that be, sir?" Corona asked, not lowering his blaster pistol an inch.

Vlanc smirked "Their droid forces of course."

Corona dropped his pistol in shock "What?"

"You see, Commander, for all the skills you and your men possess, you just aren't capable of going up against these droids on your own. That little incident earlier proved that. Oh, yes, with adequate vehicle support, I'm sure you could have overrun their position with little difficulty. But on your own, you are weak. With those droid enforcers on our side, we could have the potential to be unstoppable! We will be completely unchallenged within this sector space!" Vlanc exclaimed, a mad grin on his face as he thought of the possibilities.

"You-you can't do this! We're the defenders of the Empire! I will not be supplanted by a droid army!" Corona cried, slamming his fists down on the table.

Vlanc waved a hand dismissively "Supplanted? Hardly. No, I don't have the authority to do that. Instead, they will merely work alongside you and your men to ensure that no future insurrections occur, understood?"

Corona shook with rage "I will not work alongside machines! And neither will any of my men! We won't stand for it!"

"I'm sorry; Commander, but you don't have a choice." Vlanc said impassively, before turning and walking away.

A small part of him felt pity for the stormtrooper commander. Vlanc found the feeling to be somewhat unsettling and tried to ignore it.

* * *

Less than an hour later, the _Cluster Crab _set down outside of the Argente Tower. Vlanc and Corona had decided to take separate transports to different areas. While Vlanc was going to attempt to negotiate with whoever was inside, Corona was setting down with the rest of his troopers. The LAAT gunship that he had taken was known as the _Droidbreaker, _and had the likeness of such a creature painted onto the side, in its maw was the upper half of a B1 battle droid. To further liken it to an animal, black stripes had been painted down its back. As the _Cluster Crab _set down, Vlanc stepped out, flanked by a squad of stormtroopers, for his own safety, Corona had insisted. The members of Bha'lir Squad, named for the endangered yet fearsome beast, were weary, guns raised.

"Stay frosty, men, the Seppies could ambush us at any time." Stormtrooper Sergeant Halo said as he scanned the area for any signs of a trap.

The only ARF trooper in the group, Praetor snorted at that "Yeah, an ambush involving a bunch of Persuader enforcer droids. That'd be just our luck, wouldn't it?"

"Watch out, the doors are opening!" Obsidian said as he and his hatch mate, Striker pointed their blaster rifles squarely at the door.

Walking out was a group of eight. At the front was a golden skinned Koorivar adorned in garish looking robes, who strolled at in a confident manner that boarded on arrogance. A few steps behind him was a well armoured Koorivar Fusilier with scales of dark green, who had some kind of cybernetic replacement over his right eye. Yet despite his injury, he seemed to be very certain in his movement. The other six were what Vlanc guessed were also Koorivar, although they were clad in head to foot robes. The fact that they appeared to be unarmed suggested to Vlanc that they were perhaps attendants. Clearly the leader of the Corporate Alliance Holdout was very sure that he would not be assassinated or kidnapped by the Imperial forces.

"Ah, I assume you are Moff Vlanc, the new "leader" of Murkhana?" Shand asked, his arms held out in mock greeting.

Vlanc glance at Shand's hands and saw five rings, two on the right hand, and three on the left. Very expensive looking rings with large set jewels. _Am I dealing with a Separatist commander or some kind of decorated bird? _Vlanc wondered before he made his reply: "That is correct, I am Moff Ozzaris Vlanc, and I am in command of not only Murkhana, but also the entire Auril sector of space."

Shand's eyes twinkled "Do you hear that, Colonel? The entire Auril sector! My, my, what power! Such a shame that it's in the hands of an Imperial."

Colonel Leosa grunted in reply, not taking his eyes off of Sergeant Halo, who was likewise staring the Fusilier down.

"I come to negotiate with you, commander..." Vlanc offered.

Shand waved his hand in a dismissive manner. As he did, Vlanc noted that what he had took for rings were actually jewels embedded within Shand's fingers. _Clearly they take status very seriously..._ A stunned Vlanc thought.

"I am acting Magistrate of the Corporate Alliance, Shand Essil and I regret to inform you that your negotiations are for naught. For you see, I will not surrender to a group of petty thugs who seek to bully my company. If you push us, we will push back, am I right, Colonel?" A very smug sounding Shand asked.

Once again, Leosa's only response was a grunt of acknowledgement.

"As I recall, it was your forces that started this little skirmish." Vlanc pointed out.

"Well, we had to show you that we would not bow down before you or your little Emperor. And really, what better way to demonstrate that than by killing a few hundred of your men?" Shand said with a smirk.

Vlanc stared down his opponent. Clearly the man was ruthless, Vlanc could respect that. He felt a strange liking to the man, in spite of his Separatist background.

"I see." Vlanc said slowly "So, we will not negotiate?"

Shand shook his head certainly, still smirking at Vlanc.

"Very well then, Magistrate Essil. I suppose I shall see you on the battlefield then?" Vlanc asked.

"I suppose you shall." Shand said, despite having no intention to leave the safety of Argente Tower "Bring on your best men. Bring on your weaponry and siege vehicles. Argente Tower will not fall; you could not topple it with a hundred thousand men. It is folly. My men will stand beside me and they will not yield to a force of inferior soldiers." Shand said, his voice brimming with both confidence and arrogance.

Vlanc glanced at the Colonel who stood behind Shand. He seemed somewhat apprehensive of his superior's orders, but Vlanc knew that he would follow them, he was loyal, and that much was clear. Vlanc would have given a thousand clones for one such man.

Vlanc sighed "Very well then. I hope that when we next meet, you won't be dead. That would be quite a shame."

Shand laughed at that little comment "I am sure that when next we meet, it will be you who is dead. I will no doubt be moving into your shiny new fortress."

And at that, he and his men turned and walked back into the Argente Tower.

"Of all the arrogant-" Striker muttered.

"He's either the bravest or most foolish man on this planet." Vlanc said with a smile as he shook his head.

And at that, he and Bha'lir Squad turned back and left aboard the _Cluster Crab_ in order to prepare for the coming battle.

* * *

Leosa was weary. A Colonel in the Koorivar military normally commanded only three hundred and forty-two men. Due to the losses of other commanders during the Battle of Murkhana, Leosa now found himself in command of over two thousand. He was not sure if he was capable of leading so many men. His ascension to the rank of Colonel was only recent, and that was because the last Colonel had been cut down by the Jedi, Bol Chattack in combat. If this battle went on, he knew that the Corporate Alliance would lose and his men would suffer dearly for it. The Magistrate however, seemed to think that they stood any chance of winning this. Their last battle had only been won because the clones had seemed to think they could beat the Corporate Alliances forces through sheer numbers of infantry, with no vehicle or artillery support at all. They had since learned that such a feat was near impossible and would doubtlessly not try such suicidal tactics again.

"Magistrate, with all due respect, perhaps it would have been wise to have negotiated with the enemy leader?" Leosa prompted.

Shand waves his hand dismissively, he was rather fond of doing that, Leosa had noted as Shand had begun to speak "Nonsense, Colonel. I know that we can beat back any further attacks, the Argente Tower is impregnable!"

_That was what General Oro Dassyne had said at the Battle of Boomis Koori IV, and look what happened there,_ Leosa thought bitterly. Two Jedi managing to effortlessly breach the walls of Dassyne's so called impregnable fortress, shut down the shield generator and bomb the fortress from orbit, sustaining no Republic casualties at all, while General Dassyne and most of his forces had been wiped off of the face of the planet. At the memory of the battle, Leosa's hand went to the scar over his right eye. He had suffered more than a lost eye during the battle, cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a broken leg and more. But ribs could be healed and shoulders could be reset, a lost eye, well, that was permanent.

"Sir, the Argente Tower is not a suitable command post, if I might remind you. The fortifications that were installed were only recent and I doubt they could successfully repel the army that the Imperials no doubt plan on sending."

Shand turned to face his second in command, a reassuring smile lighting up his face "Colonel, you worry too much! I can say in full confidence that this building will withstand any attacks that the Empire throws at us!" To punctuate his words, Shand heartily clapped Leosa on the back.

"We were just lucky that the Imperials didn't try to assassinate you back outside." Leosa muttered.

"Oh, there was no danger of that, I had my guards of course," Shand motioned to the six robed figures who were walking alongside the pair "Not to mention you of course, Colonel."

Leosa grunted once more. He would be glad when this was all over, with any luck Shand would be incapacitated in some manner and he would be free to negotiate the terms of surrender with Vlanc. _He had seemed a reasonable man, even if he was an Imperial_, Leosa thought. While he was loyal to both Magistrate Shand Essil and the Corporate Alliance, Leosa knew that it was a dying organisation and he no intention to die along with it.

* * *

"So, I assume your little attempt at negotiations failed, sir?" Corona asked as Vlanc and his vanguard approached him.

"That sounds about right." Obsidian muttered under his breath.

Vlanc held up his hand in a gesture of reassurance "A temporary setback, I assure you, Commander. They will surrender before the end of the day." _And then their forces will be mine! _Vlanc thought.

"The men are ready to move out as soon as you give the order, sir. Do you wish to attack?" Corona asked.

Vlanc nodded "Yes. We attack immediately!" Vlanc shouted out, causing the stormtroopers to cheer wildly.

_With any luck, most of you will soon be replaced by more worthy soldiers_, Vlanc thought with contempt as the clones marched out to battle.

* * *

As the assault on the Argente Tower came underway, it started to rain.

"How very fitting, don't you think, Commander?" Vlanc said as a stormtrooper handed him a waterproof poncho.

"If you say so, sir." An irritated Corona replied as he waited for the first stage of the battle to commence.

* * *

"Men, soon the Imperial dogs and their forces will be marching on to take Argente Tower. They think they can come in and tell us what to do! Are we going to stand for that?" Leosa exclaimed.

"SIR, NO SIR!" The Fusiliers shouted in response.

"Damn right we won't! They are going to come and then they are going to turn and run away, tails between their legs! We will make them regret that they ever stood foot on Murkhana! We will make them scamper off to cry to the cloning tubes that they call their mothers! And not a single clone foot will sully the Argente Tower! Do you get me men?-!" Leosa roared.

"WE GET YOU, SIR!"

"That's what I wanted to hear. Now go get into standard positions! Droids in front, then the men, then the Energy Pummels!" Leosa barked.

As his men rushed to prepare for the coming storm, Leosa gazed at them sadly; _We're all going to die because some power hungry fool won't accept defeat. Madness._

* * *

As Vlanc had suggested, the first wave to come in had been the V-wings in order to draw the turbolaser fire away from the incoming LAATs and repulsorlift carried in AV-7 Antivehicle Cannons.

"This is Squadron Commander Pen of Blue Squadron. We are beginning our run momentarily...Over and out." The squadron leader said almost mournfully, knowing that he and most of his men would not survive.

The rain helped to dampen the effect of the blaster fire somewhat, but the casualties were still high as V-wing after V-wing was gunned down to the streets below. Corona frowned at the senseless loss of clone life. Vlanc on the other hand was smiling as the Koorivar realised too late that they had been firing on the wrong targets. AT-TEs, AT-APs, All Terrain Heavy Enforcers and All Terrain Personal Transports set down alongside the Antivehicle cannons and the clone stormtroopers. The enforcer droids power forward as fast as they possibly could, crushing any clones that were in their way in their mad rush to destroy the enemy vehicles. They let loose volleys of blaster bolts and missiles. An AT-PT exploded in a brilliant blossom of fire and collapsed sideways onto an unfortunate squad. Yet it was not enough. The clones rushed forward madly, seemingly unconcerned with the blaster fire that was mowing them down.

"All artillery batteries are to open fire!" Leosa ordered.

At that, dozens of energy blasts were lobbed at the Imperials. The stormtroopers shouted out in alarm and pain as they were struck down by the enemy fire. Yet despite the mounting casualties, the Imperial forces continued to advance. More and more droids were being blown to pieces by the sheer firepower of the AT-TEs and the AV-7 Antivehicle Cannons. They never stood a chance. As the larger vehicles gunned down the Corporate Alliance vehicles and droids, the AT-PTs, speeder bikes and infantry rushed forward to meet the Koorivar Fusiliers head on. A Fusilier let out a cry as he was mercilessly struck down by a speeder bike as it flew by. As the operator of the speeder turned, he made sure to throw a handful of detpacks at the enemy infantry, the ensuing explosions sending them flying. A massive fire fight quickly started as both groups of infantry opened fire. There were shouts on both sides as the blaster bolts found their marks. Still the artillery fire continued and the stormtroopers found themselves bombarded.

"Push them back! Push them back!" Leosa shouted as he raised his rifle and shot down an advancing stormtrooper.

Encouraged by the artillery and their commander's words, the Koorivar fiercely fought back against their enemy. The front lines of stormtroopers were quickly gutted by Koorivar bayonets, while the ones behind them were gunned down by blaster fire.

"This is an absolute bloodbath!" Corona said bitterly as he fought alongside Corporal Nimbus.

"It seems that way, Commander! They can't win though, we have them outnumbered and outgunned!" Nimbus shouted back as he beat a Koorivar Fusilier with the butt of his rifle.

"That may be, but we're still taking heavy casualties!" Corona replied as he saw one of the remaining enforcer droids hammer an advancing company with concussion missiles. Corona took out his frustration by punching a Fusilier in the stomach before he ended his life with a shot to the temple.

Bha'lir Squad meanwhile, was taking cover behind a destroyed Energy Pummel.

"We're getting massacred!" Striker shouted as he ducked to avoid blaster fire.

"Doesn't mean we won't win." Praetor replied, trying to lighten the mood.

"We're going to have to make a push forward, men." Halo said as he reloaded his rifle.

"We can't retreat?" Obsidian asked.

"Retreat is not an option, trooper. The Moff and Commander Corona are depending on us! Now, suck it up and move!" Halo ordered as he ducked out from cover and shot down two advancing Koorivar.

"Look on the bright side. It's still better than Malrev IV!" Praetor encouraged as he followed his sergeant and made a mad dash for Argente Tower.

Obsidian shrugged "Some days I think that Malrev IV might actually be an improvement to this place."

"Yeah, these Seppies and their droids make me miss the Irrukiine." Striker added.

"Ok, how about this? It's better than Ooo-Sek." Obsidian said darkly.

Striker shuddered at the mere mention of Ooo-Sek "You're right, this is better than...that place."

"Thought so, now come on and cover me!" Obsidian shouted as he ran after his squad mates and fired wildly into the crowd of Koorivar soldiers.

The battle raged on, with both sides taking heavy losses. Soon the Imperials began to gain ground and made their way towards their prize: The Argente Tower.

"Colonel, they're overrunning our position! We can't hold here!" A Koorivar Captain cried out.

"Stang! All forces fall back! Fall back to the tower! We'll make a stand there!" Leosa shouted to his men.

All surviving Koorivar Fusiliers raced to get into the safety of the Argente Tower. Just in time too, as the Imperials had unleashed their clone blaze troopers, who were setting alight anything or anyone that was in their path. The few remaining enforcer droids and artillery pieces did their best to cover the fleeing Koorivar soldiers, but with so few left it was a difficult task. Finally, seeing that all of his remaining men had safely reached the building, Leosa backed inside and sealed the building down. The Imperials would have to take the tower down before they could hope to breach it.

"The infantry have retreated! All forces concentrate firepower on the droids!" Corona ordered, motioning frantically for his men to follow his order.

Stormtroopers armed with rocket launchers stepped forward and opened fire on the handful of enforcer droids that still functioned, in conjunction with the firepower of the heavy vehicles. It wasn't a battle at this point; it was a simple mop up operation.

"Well, it looks like we have them on the run, Commander." Vlanc said confidently as he strolled up to Corona.

"It would seem that way, sir."Corona said as he looked over the bodies of the dead, mainly his deceased brothers.

Neither one of them noticed the half dead Koorivar Fusilier leaning on a scrapped enforcer droid.

"Well, now that we've dealt with their droid and vehicle forces, we should-" Vlanc began.

"Look out!" Corona shouted as he crash tackled Vlanc to the ground, the blaster bolt from the Fusilier's rifle sailing harmlessly past where Vlanc's chest had been.

A squad of stormtroopers quickly gunned down the injured soldier as Corona helped Vlanc to his feet.

"You...you saved my life?" A puzzled Vlanc asked.

"Yes sir, it would seem that I did." Corona replied in an impassive voice.

"But...why?" Vlanc asked.

"Because you're the commander of the Auril sector, sir. I might disagree with you, but I will follow your orders." Corona explained.

Vlanc stared at the clone closely. Could he have been wrong about the clones? Before either of them could say anything else, Corona's com-link buzzed to life.

"Sir, we're moving towards Argente Tower. Permission to enter and secure the building?" The clone asked.

"Permission granted, trooper. Just be careful." Corona said.

"Alright, we're moving in now and...Wait a minute, the doors are opening! Someone's coming out...it's those people who were with those two Seppies when Moff Vlanc was negotiating with them! What are they-? Wait they're-Fire! Fire!" The clone cried out in alarm.

Corona and Vlanc stared at the com-link as the sounds of blaster fire drifted through it. Suddenly, it was joined by a different noise, a _familiar _noise. A loud, obtrusive humming. Vlanc and Corona exchanged shocked glances.

It was the sound of a lightsaber.

"They have _Jedi_?" Corona asked incredulously.

"It can't be! They must be Dooku's Dark Jedi Acolytes! There's no way it would be actual Jedi!" Vlanc exclaimed.

"How do we know that for sure? Those damn Jedi are traitors, these ones could be working for the Separatists!" Corona snarled, furious at the thought of the Jedi betraying them.

"Get me a speeder bike, I have to get their as quickly as possible!" A concerned Vlanc ordered a nearby stormtrooper, who nodded in response.

"I'll need one too. If there's Jedi, I want to see them for myself." Corona added, no doubt scowling under his helmet.

* * *

The two raced to get to the Argente Tower on their speeder bikes. Outside there were hundreds of stormtroopers who were anxiously waiting outside. They were all staring at the figures that were standing at the entrance to the building. The clone had been right; they were the six figures who had been accompanying Shand and Leosa during Vlanc's failed attempts at negotiation. Now they all stood shoulder to shoulder and stared the clones down. At their feet were a number of clones, each of them bearing distinctive wounds.

And they were all wielding two lightsabers each. Their blades were glowed a deep, malevolent red, almost the exact same shade as blood.

"They _are_ Dark Jedi! Look at their blades, no Jedi would utilise a red lightsaber!" Vlanc exclaimed as he motioned to the lightsaber blades.

"I've seen lightsabers in all sorts of colours. Green, blue, yellow, and hell, I even saw a grey one once." Corona said.

"Yes, but never red! That is the colour of the Sith! A Jedi would never wield a red bladed lightsaber!" Vlanc snapped.

Corona glared at the six figures from under his helmet "Well, no matter what they are, they are enemies of the Galactic Empire and or glorious Emperor. So they shall be put to death!"

The clones let out a battle cry and raised their rifles, before levelling them squarely at the lightsaber wielders. They opened fire at once. It did them little good, as the Dark Jedi's hands were blurs as they deflected the blaster bolts. For a single Jedi, this would have been impossible. Even for a single Jedi wielding two lightsabers, this would have been a death sentence. But for six Dark Jedi, altogether wielding _twelve lightsabers_? This was a fair fight.

A number of clones let out strangled cries as their own blaster bolts were sent straight back at them. Soon, there were at least a dozen more dead and many more injured.

"Cease fire! We'll never get them that way!" Vlanc ordered as a stray blaster bolt whizzed past his head, barely missing the Moff.

"Then what do you suggest?" Corona questioned.

"Send in the blaze troopers! Not even a Dark Jedi is a match for the power of a harnessed fire!" Vlanc suggested.

Secretly, he was conflicted. Yes, these Jedi were allied with the Separatists, but at one point the majority of them had been members of the Jedi Order. Perhaps they could be redeemed? Quinlan Vos had momentarily fallen to the Dark Side, and yet he had been brought back to the side of the Republic...

At that point, two clone blaze troopers shot forward, propelled by a jetpack towards the Dark Jedi. The six assembled Dark Jedi raised their lightsabers defensively and prepared to fight back.

"Feh, lot of good that'll do them," Corona snorted "Not even a lightsaber can stop a jet of flame!"

The two blaze troopers stood still for a moment before they unleashed their flames upon the Dark Jedi. All but one of them leapt to safety. The one that didn't was soon out of sight, his body obscured by the flames.

Corona chuckled "That's got him! Not even a Mustafarian Jedi could have survived a blast like-!"

Vlanc's eyes widened in pure shock "Commander! Look!"

Corona followed Vlanc's gaze and almost dropped his rifle in surprise.

The Dark Jedi was still standing, his lightsabers held out in a cross shaped formation in front of him.

"N-no way!" A stunned Corona exclaimed.

"Wait, look at that!" Vlanc said again.

While the Dark Jedi had been unharmed, his robes had been burnt to cinders. They could now see what the thick clothing had obscured. Vlanc let out a gasp at what he saw.

What he had taken to be one of Dooku's Dark Jedi was actually an EG-5 Jedi Hunter droid.

Vlanc was equal parts relieved and disappointed. While on the one hand he was glad that he would not have to face the guilt of killing six former Jedi, he was also saddened by the fact that these had never been Jedi at all. Just machines designed to kill them.

"By the Fo-! By the Emperor! They're all droids!" Corona exclaimed.

Vlanc closed his eyes and exhaled "Commander, order your men to pull back."

"Sir? We can take them, I know we can! They're just droids!" Corona said.

Vlanc spoke softly "Yes, I'm sure that they can. But I'm tired of killing and death right now. Pull them back. We'll bring in the S-PHAs."

Corona lowered his weapon "Uh, very good, sir. All right men, let's move out! We're going to bring this building down!"

* * *

At the top of Argente Tower, Colonel Leosa was with acting Magistrate Shand. Shand was sitting on a couch, his jewel encrusted hand covering his eyes.

"Sir, what are your orders?" Leosa asked.

Shand either ignored his Head of Security or he didn't hear him. Leosa spoke louder.

"Sir! Your orders?"

Shand sighed "We are not defeated. I planned for this. We have reinforcements."

Leosa was puzzled "Reinforcements? Where?"

Shand offered a weak smile "In the shipyards nearby. A number of _Fantail_-class destroyers. It will be glorious."

Leosa's eyes widened in shock at what Shand had said "Fantails? But how? I thought that the Republic had bombed our shipyards! That they totally destroyed everything!"

"I managed to salvage a few that were hidden away in case of emergency. With those in our power, their forces shall crumble into dust!" Shand said, a mad gleam in his eyes.

"But the Imperials will send _Venator_-class star destroyers!" Leosa exclaimed.

Shand smirked "The _Fantails _will swat them from the sky."

Leosa was horrified. Shand's reckless actions would get them all killed! Leosa had made up his mind. He pulled out a blaster pistol and aimed it at Shand "This is madness! You will destroy us!"

Shand shook his head in disappointment "Oh, Colonel. I had thought that you of all people would have seen things my way."

"I am sorry sir, but my men and I will no longer follow you. We will surrender." Leosa said gravely.

"We must hold out until the other Separatist Holdouts come to reinforce us then!" Shand exclaimed.

"Magistrate, we cannot expect help from the other Separatist forces! They are too busy with their own battles! The Trade Federation is fractured, Dooku has alienated the Death Watch, the Intergalactic Banking Clan has denounced us, the Nosaurian soldiers are fighting guerrilla warfare to keep their homeworld free and the Nimbus Commandos of Jabiim have abandoned us! We. Have. Lost!" Leosa exclaimed.

At that point, a 3PX droid stepped forward to address the pair, interrupting any further arguing that may have occurred.

"Excuse me, sirs, but there is an incoming message from the apparent leader of the Imperial forces. He says he wishes to negotiate the terms of our, um, surrender." The protocol droid said nervously.

Shand sighed and stood up "Activate it."

At that point, a holopanel in front of the group lit up. Standing in front of them was the life sized holographic figure of Moff Ozzaris Vlanc.

"So, Magistrate, are you ready to negotiate now?" Vlanc asked, a triumphant grin on his face.

Shand narrowed his eyes "What's there to negotiate? We surrender and we spend the rest of our lives on some miserable backwater like Kessel or some other prison planet. Am I right?"

The Moff's grin never left his face "Not even close, Magistrate. Actually, the deal is, you surrender, I don't take down your little tower with my S-PHAs and you continue running your little operation."

Shand's eyes shot up "What?"

Leosa was similarly perplexed, although he kept silent, not wishing to draw Vlanc's attention.

"You heard me, Magistrate. If you surrender to me, I will allow you to continue to run whatever is left of the Corporate Alliance on Murkhana. There are a few conditions, however."

Once again, Shand narrowed his eyes "Of course there are. Tell me, what are they?"

"The first is that the Corporate Alliance supplies the Galactic Empire with a steady stream of NR-N99 _Persuader_-class enforcer droids, as well as artillery and pummels." Vlanc began.

Shand nodded "Go on."

"The second is that you also supply us with your _Fantail_-class destroyers for use in my private fleet."

Shand's eyes widened. He knew about the _Fantails_? More, he was constructing a private fleet?

"The third is that your Koorivar Fusilier forces become part of the Auril sector military. I was quite impressed by their prowess. Not like droids or clones at all, much more flexible and adaptable."

Shand and Leosa exchanged surprised glances. This time it was Leosa who spoke: "My men would of course fight with you, sir. Assuming of course that we would receive all of the same treatment as your clone troopers?"

The image of Vlanc nodded "I'll see what I can do. I assure you however, that I will do everything in my power to follow through with your request." Vlanc turned back to face Shand "Now, Magistrate, if we may continue."

Shand smiled and tented his fingers "Moff Vlanc, let us talk business."

* * *

And so begins Moff Vlanc's alliance with the Corporate Alliance Holdout. Not to mention the start of his new relationship with Corona. Leosa and Shand will be reoccurring characters from now on to aid Vlanc. If you're curious as to what Leosa's replacement eye is, it's the same kind as used by General Ziering, from the comic Star Wars: Empire: To the Last Man, and R2-E7 is based on the appearance of R2-Q2 from A New Hope. What happens next? I hope that you enjoyed it, please remember to review and finally...thanks for reading!


	5. Reclamation of Auril: Keedad Part I

Hello and welcome to chapter 5 of Unexpected Places. This chapter's probably a little later than it should be, but I was working on Surviving, which ties into Unexpected Places. This chapter deals with Vlanc trying to weed out the pirates endemic to the Auril sector and the Jedi and their Antarian Ranger allies looking for an engineer. Of course, I do not own Star Wars, just my OCs. So, without any further ado, I hope that you enjoy the following chapter, please remember to review and finally...thanks for reading!

* * *

"This situation could not possibly be any worse." A disgruntled Shand Essil muttered.

He had thought that the deal that he and Moff Ozzaris Vlanc had been a fair one. The Corporate Alliance would continue to function in return for supplying the Galactic Empire with droids, men and starships. Except, as Shand had soon discovered, the Corporate Alliance was finished, to be absorbed into the Empire, making them now legal employees of Emperor Palpatine and his cronies. In addition, Vlanc had promised that the Corporate Alliance's line of _Fantail_-class destroyers would be part of his "private fleet". However, there was no private fleet; there never had been one to begin with. Instead, the ships had been impounded at an Imperial Naval base and kept under close lock and key.

"I beg to disagree, Magistrate. We could be dead." Colonel Leosa Vantare said as he sparred with one of the EG-5 Jedi Hunting droids.

Thinking of the droids also brought annoyance to Shand. He had been told by Vlanc that the lightsabers that they had wielded would need to be confiscated and sent to Coruscant. Now without their primary weapons, Shand had been forced to supply the former Jedi killer droids with electrostaffs, _Like those common IG-100 Magnaguards Grievous was so fond of using! _Shand thought with a disdainful sniff.

"As you like to keep reminding me, Colonel." Shand said bitterly, starting to think that perhaps death would have been a better choice.

Leosa ducked to avoid a swinging blow from the Jedi killer droid, before attempting to sweep its legs out from under it. The droid had other ideas, however, and leapt high into the air, before landing squarely on Leosa. With its opponent pinned, the droid aimed its electrostaff directly at the Koorivar's throat. Leosa held up his hands in defeat and the droid backed away.

"Still need more practice." Leosa muttered.

"I fail to see why you punish yourself like that; you'll never have to go up against a Jedi again." Shand said as he poured himself a glass of brandy, something that he had been doing frequently as of late.

"Never know," Leosa grunted "Could be more out there, no way all of them perished. Besides, I've been hearing rumours."

Shand was curious "Rumours? What rumours, pray tell?"

Leosa looked to be disturbed "Rumours that the Empire has started training their own Jedi. For use as Palpatine's personal enforcers, they say."

Shand scoffed in disbelief "That's preposterous! After the Jedi tried to assassinate him, why would he want to make more?"

Leosa shrugged in response "For protection? Few can claim to have bested a Jedi. Besides, you saw that man, Darth Vader, didn't you?"

Shand shuddered at the memory of seeing that monstrosity stepping off of his shuttle "Yes, yes I do remember that...thing." Shand said with obvious distaste.

"So you concede that the rumours could be true?" Leosa asked, his brow raised "After all, if something like Vader could exist within the Empire, surely there could be others like him?"

"Alright, I suppose that it is possible that there could be Jedi under the employ of the Empire...I still have my doubts though." And at that, he went back to his brandy.

* * *

Vlanc slipped the two lightsabers into their display case. He would need to come up with a good reason as to why they would not arrive with the other ten lightsabers when the shuttle that was transporting them arrived on Coruscant, but Vlanc was sure that he could figure something out. Vlanc looked around the room, it was almost entirely empty, save for the two lightsabers and the _Mirialan's Eye_. Vlanc supposed that he could always convert this room into a full blown trophy room in the future; although he was unsure as to what else he could fill it with. Now that he had put his lightsabers in their new home, it was back to business. Vlanc was going to oversee the addition to the Auril sector's naval forces. The old _Acclamator II-_class assault ships and _Venator_-class star destroyers would now be backed up with newer models of warships, such as the _Victory I_-class assault ships, the heavily armoured _Tector-_class star destroyers and their similar cousins, the _Imperial_-class star destroyers, which had been known as the _Imperious-_class star destroyers until the reformation of the Galactic Republic into the Empire.

"I suppose that sycophant Starkblast will be pleased." Vlanc muttered to himself as he moved out onto the balcony of his fortress.

Captain Starkblast had seemed very excited when Vlanc had mentioned the news to him. Indeed, Vlanc had noticed that the good captain had seemed very eager at the mere thought of being transferred to an _Imperial_-class. And there they were: A veritable fleet of brand new ships that eclipsed the city. From his perch, Vlanc could see thousands of people looking up at the star destroyers in awe. From the stormtroopers, to the Fusiliers, to the civilians to the Separatist battle droids that Vlanc had had reprogrammed following the battle with the Corporate Alliance Holdouts. Inspired by the NR-N99 _Persuader_-class enforcer droids, Vlanc had also reprogrammed the deactivated battle droids that littered the streets of Murkhana City. Now joining the enforcer droids were the likes of the dwarf spider droids, the LM-432 crab droids and droidekas, among other such models. Corona hadn't liked it, but fortunately for Vlanc, Palpatine had, noting that Vlanc wasn't the first of the Moffs to use reprogrammed battle droids.

At that moment, a whistling sound caught Vlanc's attention. He turned to see R3-E7 roll up to him.

"Yes, Eseven, what is it?" Vlanc asked.

In response, the droid began to make his normal beeping noises. Vlanc sighed; _I really am going to have to get a protocol droid one of these days to translate for him, that would be so much easier than inferring meaning through whistle pitch_. Before Vlanc could say anymore, however, the image of Captain Starkblast appeared, being projected by a holoemitter attached to Eseven.

"Captain." Vlanc greeted wearily.

"Moff Vlanc," Starkblast replied, saluting his superior "The new ships have arrived to bolster our fleet. With them we have received new orders."

Vlanc arched an eyebrow "Oh? And what would those orders be, Captain?"

"They are to take action against the local pirates and any remaining Separatist Holdouts that remain within the sector, sir. With our new star destroyers, I doubt that they shall pose much of a threat." Starkblast said confidently.

"Interesting," Vlanc said, musing over the orders "I shall accompany you; I wish to see how the new ships perform when compared to the older models."

Starkblast seemed surprised "Sir? But who will maintain order on Murkhana while you are away?"

"The local garrison should be fine in my absence. But if you are concerned, I can always place Colonel Vantare in charge?" Vlanc asked.

Starkblast's eyes widened in alarm "The Separatist commander?-! Sir, surely you're joking?"

"Not in the least, Captain. In the short time that I have known Colonel Vantare, he has proven to be a highly capable, efficient and trustworthy individual." Vlanc said, meaning every word of it.

"But, sir, he was a Separatist! What about Commander Corona? Surely he would be a much better choice?" Starkblast suggested.

"Is the commander not accompanying us?" A confused Vlanc asked.

The holographic image of Starkblast shook its head "Negative, sir. Most of this operation will be done from the ships. We'll be bringing limited infantry along with us; there'll be little need for them."

Vlanc thought it over. A few days ago he would have dismissed the notion of leaving a mere clone in charge, but since Corona had saved Vlanc's life, Vlanc was starting to rethink his opinion of the clone.

"Very well then, Corona shall be in charge in my stead. Now, prepare for my arrival, I shall be with you in a little less than an hour." Vlanc said, preparing to com his shuttle crew.

"Very good, sir, we shall be ready. Starkblast out." And with that, the image of Starkblast cut out and Eseven whistled in disdain.

"I know, Eseven, I don't like him much either. Still, he seems to be...somewhat competent in what he does." Vlanc said with a shrug "Now, I had better prepare for the field testing of these new ships."

And at that, Vlanc turned and left the room, eager to get to business.

* * *

"What do you suppose is wrong with it?" Sonoro asked.

"Beats me, maybe we should go get Ailan, he's the best with droids." Drum suggested with a shrug.

Standing before them was an R3 unit with orange trimming. Something seemed to be wrong with it, however, as it was standing stock still in the hallway. Under its transparasteel dome, its inner working seemed to be struggling with something, making the occasional clicking noise which Sonoro found to be rather ominous. This particular R3 unit, R3-G5, was important, as it contained important data regarding Antarian Ranger bases, as well as ship data and...other things.

Sonoro reached for his com-link "Ailan? Can you come up to the engine room? There's a malfunctioning droid we need you to take a look at."

"Be right there, just give me a minute." Ailan replied.

A few moments later, Ailan appeared, carrying a toolbox with him.

"Alright, where is it?" Ailan asked as he strode up to the pair.

"Right here," Drum said, motioning to the disabled astromech droid "It's not moving at all and it keeps making these weird clicking noises. Any ideas as to what's wrong with it?"

Ailan frowned "Oh, an astromech droid? See, here's the thing, I thought you were talking about a battle droid. I'm not so good with other models of droids. Battle droids, sure, those are fine, but an R3 unit? Yeah, that's a problem for me." Ailan explained.

Drum sighed "Alright then, who is the expert on astromech droid maintenance?"

Ailan paused to consider it, when he spoke; he did so slowly "That would have been Kassir Thrilke."

Sonoro groaned and Drum put his head in his hands, ignoring the stabbing pains caused by his chin and brow spurs. Kassir Thrilke had been a Human Antarian Ranger. He had also been shot a few days ago by a member of the deceased Ubese mercenary Sadix's group.

"Is there anyone else who could help us?" Sonoro asked.

Ailan shrugged "I doubt it...well, I doubt anyone on this ship can help us, anyway."

"Well, we can't very well go out and hire an engineer, can we? We're wanted fugitives!" Drum said.

"Well, there might be an engineer who could help us, assuming he's not dead or imprisoned. He'd be a fugitive too." Ailan said thoughtfully.

"Oh yes? And who would that be?" Sonoro asked, hoping that Ailan's mystery engineer would be able to help them.

"Kazan Zanabi, he's an utterly brilliant mechanic and engineer. They say that he can do just about anything with any droid." Ailan explained.

"So, why is he a fugitive?" Drum asked.

"Last I heard, he was working for the Separatists." Ailan said cautiously.

The duo made exasperated noises "Separatists, of course." Drum muttered.

"How would we even find him anyway?" Sonoro asked.

"I knew him pretty well before the Clone Wars, I could probably figure out where he'd be hiding out." Ailan said.

"That is assuming of course that he's still alive." Drum pointed out.

"I'm sure he would be, he's too clever to have been killed. He was never much of a fighter anyway." Ailan said.

"I'll go have a chat with the Captain, see if he'll agree with us." Sonoro said, before turning to find Captain Jericho Gargos.

"Well, with any luck, this Kazan Zanabi will be able to help us." Drum muttered.

"Oh, I'm sure he will, he knows droids like a Jedi knows the Force." Ailan said reassuringly.

R3-G5 just made more clicking noises.

* * *

On the bridge of the _Imperial_-class star destroyer known as the _Unconquerable_, Vlanc stood alongside Starkblast, gazing out at Murkhana. Thanks to Passel Argente and the Corporate Alliance, it had become a veritable hive of scum and villainy, with pirates, thieves and smugglers running riot. But now that was to end. A complete purge of all the pirate forces in not just the star system, but the entire sector was to begin. It was heaviest in the Murkhana system, again due to the actions of the Corporate Alliance, but the pirates had also firmly dug into the Repea, Weytta and Keedad, not to mention the heavy resistance that the natives of the Bak'rofsen system were putting up.

"Where should we start, sir?" Starkblast asked.

"Keedad, Captain, we've received a tip off that the Black Hourglass pirate organisation plans to steal the five Glorious Caskets of Keedad." Vlanc replied.

"The five...what?" Starkblast asked, a puzzled expression on his face.

"The five Glorious Caskets of Keedad, Captain. They're five highly decorated, bejewelled caskets that house the bodies of the five greatest leaders of Keedad." Vlanc explained, holding out a datapad.

Starkblast took it "A museum robbery?"

"Not quite, the caskets are being transported to one of Keedad's moons for an exhibition. The pirates plan to attack the convoy and steal the caskets. Unless we stop them, of course." Vlanc said.

Starkblast nodded "Very well then. Full speed to the Keedad system then."

* * *

On the bridge of the _Order_, Drum and Ailan were standing before Captain Jericho Gargos. The Captain was sitting in his chair and staring at the pair.

"And you think that this Zanabi person can fix the droid?" Jericho asked.

Ailan nodded "He's one of the best engineers in the Outer Rim, I know he could do it."

"But you don't exactly know where he is?" Jericho pressed.

Ailan faltered, before carefully choosing his response "Well, not exactly, sir. However, I am aware of several of his hideouts."

Jericho considered the idea for a moment, before he shook his head and said: "It's too risky, we can't go chasing shadows and potential leads just for one droid. Besides, we have more R3 units with information on our bases."

Drum and Ailan exchanged nervous glances. Behind the Captain, Bdaris Telnari was sitting bolt upright, staring at the two. Jericho looked at Drum and Ailan, reading their faces, before turning to look at Bdaris, who had gone back to a relaxed position.

"There's something different about this droid, isn't there?" Jericho asked, his voice hushed in a way which no one on the bridge liked.

Drum cleared his throat and spoke hesitantly "Well, sir, some the others and I started this little project, you see..."

"Spit it out." Jericho said sternly.

Drum looked worried "That R3 unit has information regarding possible...Jedi...hideouts..."

Jericho's eyes shot open and he turned to look at Bdaris, who had shot out of his seat "Knight Telnari, is there something that you'd like to explain to me?"

Bdaris rubbed the back of his head nervously "Uh, look, Captain, Alyss and I thought it might be best to go out and find other Jedi so that we-"

"And you did this behind my back? You thought it might be a good idea to put my men's lives at risk?" Jericho asked icily.

Bdaris held his hands up defensively "I didn't think you'd be open to the idea of going after more Jedi."

"And you were right! There's barely any left alive, it'd be suicide to try and go after more! We were lucky to save you, the Jedi massacre was only beginning and Palpatine hadn't managed to consolidate his power! Now almost all of the Jedi have been hunted down and the Emperor is tightening his grip on the Galaxy! I will not endanger you or Alyss or any of my men for a wild nuna chase!" Jericho snapped.

Bdaris looked down at his feet, he knew that it had been a bad idea, but he simply could not let his fellow surviving Jedi die at the hands of the Empire.

"Captain, please understand. I realise that what we did was foolish, but Alyss and I could not live with ourselves if we just sat back and did nothing. Captain, we know that you would do the same in our situation." Bdaris said.

Jericho sighed and slumped backwards into his seat. He raised a webbed hand to his face and covered his bulbous orange eyes. After a moment he lifted his hand and looked straight at Bdaris.

"I would do anything to protect this crew. Suicidal, dangerous things if necessary. But going out to seek more Jedi survivors would only put them and you in more danger, you know that." Jericho said.

Bdaris looked at Jericho sadly "I know, and I regret that, truly I do. But while we sit here in Wild Space, more and more Jedi are being murdered in the name of the Empire."

Jericho sighed again "Yes, I suppose they are...You do know that there is only a slim chance of finding other survivors?"

Bdaris simply nodded "I know, but if we can find even one Jedi still alive, there's hope of rebuilding the Jedi Order."

Jericho looked down at his lap, before facing Bdaris "Very well, Knight Telnari, I will consent to this mad search. Just know that if I feel that my crew is in danger, I will stop."

"I understand, Captain. Thank you for agreeing to this." Bdaris said.

"I just hope that I don't come to regret it." Jericho muttered, before turning to Ailan "Tell me, Ailan, where can we find this Zanabi?"

* * *

In the Keedad system, a ZZ-class freighter accompanied by a squadron of _Dagger_-class starfighters, a tripled winger starfighter that was small, fast and highly manoeuvrable, a good ship for use in planetary defensive forces. However, it lacked such equipment as shielding and life support, also making it a ship for only the best of pilots.

"This is Blue Leader, reporting that the skies are clear." A Keed pilot reported.

The words were no sooner out of his mouth when over a dozen starships exited out of hyperspace. A heavily modified ILH-KK_ Citadel_-class civilian cruiser was leading the charge, its heavy ion cannons firing. Painted onto its back was a solid black hourglass, signifying that it belonged to the Black Hourglass pirates. Accompanying it were an array of starfighters, mostly comprised of _Dianoga_-class assault fighters, but there were also A-6 Interceptors, _MorningStar-_B starfighters and even two or three droid tri-fighters. The Black Hourglass had never been aligned with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, but when the organisation had collapsed it had left behind plenty of equipment for opportunistic pirates to salvage.

"This is Storm of the freighter _Keelkana's Maw,_ surrender your cargo or perish!" A crewmember from the cruiser ordered through the com-link.

"Krinking pirates! Blue Squadron, prepare for battle!" Blue Leader ordered.

"Against that kind of firepower?-! We'll be slaughtered!" Blue Nine exclaimed.

"Belt up and start firing!" Blue Two snapped as he formed up on Blue Leader's lead.

The two groups quickly came into firing range. The _Dagger_-class starfighters were more nimble, that was true, but their insufficient armour put them at a distinct disadvantage against the heavily armed _Dianoga_-class assault starfighters. One of the pirates mused that it was almost overkill as he blasted Blue Ten into oblivion.

"There goes Danye!" Blue Six cried out.

"Calm down! We've trained for this! Keep your heads!" Blue Leader ordered.

Blue Leader, closely followed by Blue's Two and Eleven began concentrating their fire on the opposing starfighters. Soon, a pirate A-6 Interceptor was sent spiralling towards the surface of Keedad, the pirate's screaming all the way down.

"Scratch one bandit!" Blue Two cheered.

Mere seconds later, a droid tri-fighter blew him out of the sky with a well placed missile.

"Stang! Ichido! Ichido, do you copy?" Blue Leader shouted, only to be met with silence.

"I've got bandits on my tail!" Blue Five cried as a _Dianoga _and a _MorningStar _chased him down.

"Hold on, Kre, we're coming!" Blue Leader said as he and Blue Eleven rushed to aid their fellow.

Blue Five weaved and dodged excellently, but he knew it was only a matter of time before it would end. If only he could shake the pair behind him! Suddenly, one of the ships was hit from behind, and in his confusion, the pilot careened into his wing mate, taking them both down.

"Thanks, Blue Leader, I thought I was a go-!" Blue Five began.

He was cut off when the _Keelkana's Maw _silenced him forever with a shot from one of its laser cannons.

"Kre!" Blue Leader cried out in horror.

"Pull up! Pull up! We're too close to that thing!" Blue Eleven shouted as he pulled away from the enemy ship.

A short distance away, Blues Three, Four, Six and Seven had found themselves amidst a group of pirate ships. Blue Four narrowly avoided a shot by rotating his wings, but Blue Seven was not so fortunate, as a shot destroyed his cockpit, immediately killing him.

"There goes Elias." Blue Three said bitterly.

"We'll join him unless we bug out!" Blue Six cried out in a panic.

"Stay with us Blue Six!" Blue Four ordered.

"I'm getting out of here!" Blue Six said as he turned to flee.

"Wait for me, I'm coming with you!" Blue Nine added.

"Come back here you cowards!" Blue Three snapped.

The pirates were content to let the deserters flee, but the droids weren't, and two droid fighters quickly got behind Blue's Six and Nine, blowing them away, before rejoining the battle.

"Stang! We're in trouble!" Blue Eight said as he twisted to avoid a stray shot.

"You're just noticing that now?" Blue Four asked.

The group was soon accompanied by Blue Leader and Blues Eleven and Twelve.

" We need reinforcements up here!" Blue Leader said into his com-link.

"Where the hell is our backup?" Blue Twelve questioned.

"It looks like control doesn't give a kriff about us." Blue Eight said.

"But what about the cargo?" Blue Eleven asked "It's our history!"

"Evidently it's not worth the effort." Blue Leader said.

"Scratch one more bandit!" Blue Twelve announced as he destroyed one of the two droid fighters.

"Atta boy!" Blue Four cheered.

"Keep it up, we' have to protect the caskets!" Blue Leader ordered.

"Stang, I'm hit!" Blue Eight cried.

"How bad is it?" Blue Leader asked.

"They cut off the tip of one of my wings! That's one of my laser cannons down!" Blue Eight said.

"Hold on, Te, we're going to get out of this!" Blue Leader said.

"One of them is coming back for the kill!" Blue Eight reported, alarm in his voice.

"Form up on Te, now!" Blue Leader commanded.

"I've got this one, Blue Leader." Blue Twelve said calmly as he shot off towards the _MorningStar_ fighter.

"Blue Twelve! Don't be a fool! Osa!" Blue Leader exclaimed.

The two ships charged towards each other, laser cannons firing wildly. The _MorningStar _managed to score a hit, sending Blue Twelve careening off into space. However, before he was lost, Blue Twelve managed to score a direct hit on the cockpit of the enemy fighter, killing the pilot.

"I'm hit! I'm hi-!" Blue Twelve cried out, before his ship exploded in a brilliant blossom of fire.

"Damn it, we're getting massacred!" Blue Eight exclaimed.

"If we die, we're going to give them hell before we go, boys!" Blue Leader said as he bore down on the remaining droid fighter.

At that moment, however, two gigantic starships pulled out of hyperspace. One was a _Venator-_class star destroyer, the other was a new kind of ship that Blue Squadron had never seen before.

"By the gods!" Blue Eleven exclaimed.

"What the hell is that thing?" Blue Four asked.

"More importantly, whose side is it on?" Blue Three added.

Their question was answered as turbolaser batteries fired on the pirate forces, utterly obliterating them. The remaining pirates tried to escape, but it was fruitless, as they were all quickly destroyed...

...Save for the _Keelkana's Maw_, which was seized by a tractor beam from the _Venator, _which drew it into a hangar.

"Keed ships, this is the captain of the _Imperial_-class star destroyer, _Unconquerable_, we have dealt with the pirates. Return to your business immediately." A voice blared through the com-link.

Blue Leader looked confused by the captain's orders. It was certainly abrupt; still, certain rules had to be followed.

"This is Captain Talvin Corto of Blue Squadron, addressing the captain of the _Unconquerable_. We appreciate your help, but we would like to question the survivors and detain them on Keedad while-" Blue Leader began, before he was cut off.

"Your authority is irrelevant, Captain. The pirates are being detained by the Galactic Empire, our jurisdiction overrides yours. Now, get back to what you were doing before I blast you and your squad for sedition." The captain said harshly.

Talvin scowled under his breath mask. He had his doubts about the Imperials, but he hadn't been aware that they would be this bad.

Before he could say anything however, a new voice broke in "Captain! You will do no such thing! The people of Keedad, and indeed, the entire Auril sector are under our sovereignty and no harm is to come to them!"

The captain muttered something unintelligible, before apparently moving away.

"This is Moff Vlanc, the governor of the Auril sector. I apologise for the rudeness of my subordinate, he will be reprimanded, I assure you."

Now Talvin was confused, this was an unexpected change "Ah, thank you for your assistance, Moff Vlanc. But, as I said, we will need to detain the pirates."

"Yes, of course. However, we think it would be best if we were to interrogate them first, after which we shall hand them over to you. Is that acceptable?" Vlanc asked.

In Talvin's book, it most certainly was not. However, he doubted that he was going to get a better deal and he didn't want to push his luck with this Moff Vlanc, you never could tell how these Humans would react. True, they were a Near-Keed species, but they were still so..._alien, _that it was better to play it safe.

"Very good, Moff Vlanc, I'll alert the Keedad Judicial Forces and have them prepare a prison shuttle for your guests when you're done with them." Talvin said.

"Thank you, Captain. I assure you, this will not take long." Vlanc said reassuringly.

Talvin sat in his starfighter for a moment, before activating the secure comm channel "Right, we'd better get these caskets to safety. Te, are you alright to fly?"

"Yes, Blue Leader, I can manage."

"Good, better get out of here before those Imperials decide they want to detain us." And with that, Blue Squadron was off.

* * *

Vlanc and Starkblast were anxious to interrogate the pirates as they were swiftly ferried to the _Harbinger _aboard an Imperial shuttle. A squad of stormtroopers was ready to greet them, with another squad of Imperial marines ready to board the enemy ship in case of any violence.

"They'd be mad to attempt anything." Vlanc said as the clones began to cut a hole through one of the airlocks of the cruiser.

"True, but these men are going to be desperate and afraid. That makes them more dangerous, better to be cautious." Starkblast said.

Soon, an entrance was created and the clones rushed into the _Keelkana's Maw_. The sound of muffled blaster fire soon began and the stormtroopers who were outside the captured ship began to twitch, apparently anxious to join their brothers. It was not a long scuffle and eventually the squad, minus three members dragged out the surviving crew. They were a mishmash of species from the Auril sector, Koorivar, Keed, Dashade and Human, but one figure stood out. This particular pirate stood over two meters tall and was wearing what seemed to be an enviro-suit, a black hourglass proudly embossed on the chest.

"Captain, Moff Vlanc, I present Captain Storm." A stormtrooper marine who had a chain link pattern embossed on the left side of his armour said as he shoved the enviro-suited figure towards the two senior officers.

"What species is this one?" Starkblast murmured in confusion.

Vlanc leaned forward for a closer look, confident that Storm could not harm him, his hands had been restrained with a set of stun-cuffs and all of his weapons had been confiscated. Something seemed to be swirling around within Storm's helmet. Vlanc leapt back when a pink tendril slapped the inside of the glass.

"Get away from us, Imperial scum." Storm said in a very unusual voice, as if multiple people were speaking in unison.

"What is he?" A surprised Vlanc asked.

"Not he, they." The clone marine, whose name was Link said.

Vlanc and Starkblast looked confused by what Link had said.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Starkblast asked.

"Storm isn't a singular entity, he's a small colony of Moappa centralised in that enviro-suit." Binder explained.

Vlanc's eyes widened in surprise at the information he had received. A Moappa colony? The Moappa were a species indigenous to Mon Calamari, being a species of small conical, tentacled invertebrate. The unusual thing about Moappa was that on their own, they were mere animals, yet if they numbered over a dozen, then they could achieve sapience. Vlanc had never heard of any Moappa criminals, however, so he was quite surprised to learn of Storm's species.

"This is remarkable, fascinating!" Vlanc breathed, leaning in to examine Storm, now noticing that his suit was filled with sea water to accommodate them.

Starkblast cleared his throat "As fascinating as these...things are, we're still going to have to interrogate it...them."

Vlanc looked up at Starkblast "What? Oh, yes, carry on Captain. I eagerly await your results."

"You stupid Imperials, when we get out of here, We'll kill you all! We'll kill you!" Storm shouted as they thrashed around in an attempt to escape from the clones who were leading him away.

* * *

In a cantina on the Outer Rim planet known as Far Pando, Alyss, Bdaris, Eno Dagger, Sonoro, Ailan, Poe Tac and Sig Salza were searching for Kazan Zanabi. All around them were members of species commonly ruled by Hutts: Nimbanese, Niktos, Klatooinians and Riileb, among others. Despite the negative stereotypes associated with members of Hutt aligned races, the group was not overly worried. Far Pando was an agrarian world, and most of the inhabitants were farmers.

"So, who exactly do we talk to about Zanabi?" Alyss asked in a hushed whisper.

"A Yahk-Tosh named Jeo-Firsr. He's the owner of this place, but he was friendly with Zanabi. Apparently, Zanabi did some work for this guy, managed to find and reprogram a platoon of E4 baron droids for him. Firsr was pretty impressed with him, I know he hired him a few more times, I think they even became friends." Ailan explained.

"How is it exactly that you know all of this?" Bdaris asked, a frown on his face.

Ailan shrugged "Because I used to work alongside the guy. He was a pretty good friend too, good sense of humour and damn good with a fusioncutter."

The group approached the bar, where an olive skinned Klatooinian dispatched drinks. He nodded his head as he saw Ailan approach.

"Ailan, I haven't seen you in a while. The war been keeping you busy?" The Klatooinian asked.

"Yeah, Saranova, fighting for freedom and democracy, you know." Ailan said.

"Well, I guess not anymore, what with the Empire in place. So much for democracy." Saranova said with a snort.

"Blame the Jedi, everyone else is doing it." Ailan said, turning to Bdaris.

"The Jedi? Feh, if they're anarchists, then I'm a Chadra-Fan." Saranova said.

"So you don't believe what Palpatine says?"

"Not even slightly. If the Jedi wanted to seize power, why didn't they do it back when the Republic didn't have an army?" Saranova questioned.

Bdaris was starting to like this Klatooinian.

"They say that the clones were supposed to stay loyal to the Jedi and help them with their little coup." Ailan said with a shrug.

"Feh, that turned out well then, didn't it?" Saranova said, rolling his eyes.

Ailan nodded "Mmmm hmmm. Listen, Saranova, I have a little favour to ask..."

Saranova stared at Ailan "Oh yeah? And what exactly would this favour be?"

"We need to see Jeo-Firsr." Ailan said.

Saranova's eyes widened in surprise "Oh yeah?" He said slowly "And may I ask what for?"

"We're looking for Zanabi." Ailan said.

Saranova seemed to balk at that "Zanabi? What, Kazan Zanabi? The engineer?"

"That's the one." Ailan confirmed.

"There's not some kind of bounty on him, is there? Because Jeo-Firsr would soon as cut his own hand off before he sold out Zanabi." Saranova said.

Ailan shook his head "Nothing so dramatic, we just need him for a small job. Just fixing an astromech droid is all."

Saranova seemed surprised "Really? That's all?"

Ailan nodded this time "Yep, that's all."

Saranova seemed to consider it "...Alright, I'll see what I can do. Wait here while I go talk to the boss."

The group waited for a few moments. After a moment, Sig spoke up.

"Ok, I can understand why you're here, Ailan. I can also guess why Bdaris is here, but what about the rest of us?"

Ailan shrugged "In case anything goes wrong."

Poe stared at Ailan for a while before he spoke "In case anything goes wrong?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, by Yahk-Tosh standards, Jeo-Firsr is a downright decent being, but he does after all have a platoon of repurposed Separatist battle droids at his disposal. Best to be cautious, right?"

"But this is a peaceful planet, why he's need so much firepower anyway?" Alyss asked.

"Pirates, marauders, bounty hunters," Ailan said, ticking off each with his fingers "All the usual stuff that small colonies have to deal with. That and he's not exactly friendly with the majority of the Hutts. Apparently he took in some runaway soldiers to spite some of them."

Bdaris and Alyss exchanged cautious glances, their hands going for their lightsabers, which were concealed beneath their cloaks. They retracted their hands when Ailan glared at them. After a moment, Saranova returned.

"Alright, the boss said you can go in, but you have to leave your weapons here." Saranova said, pointing to a metal tray.

One by one, the group placed their weapons on the tray. Ailan drew a few glances when he reached over his back, unhatched a few straps and placed a quad laser cannon on the table. When Alyss walked up, Saranova raised a brow and held out his hand.

In response, Alyss waved her hand in front of his face and said in a soothing tone of voice "You don't need my weapon."

A blank look crossed Saranova's face as he replied "I don't need your weapon."

"I can move along. So can my friend." Alyss said, motioning to Bdaris.

"You can move along. So can your friend." Saranova repeated.

Alyss and Bdaris quickly walked past Saranova. Ailan raised a brow at them.

"Cute, but don't try that on Firsr. He's a Yahk-Tosh, your Jedi mind tricks don't work on his kind." Ailan said.

Alyss and Bdaris nodded, before following the others into a large room. It was highly decorated, red banners covered the walls, beautiful, rich carpets paved the floors and there was a table on which a number of beautiful glass pieces rested. Also inside the room however, were a number of bulky, heavily armed E4 baron droids, Ganks, a LOM series protocol droid and a being the group could only assume was Jeo-Firsr. He was a large, corpulent creature, very similar to a Hutt in appearance. However, he had green-yellow skin, six arms, a more slug like face and four horns atop his head. A crimson shawl lay over his shoulders. He looked up at his visitors and spoke, albeit in a language that none of them understood.

The LOM droid stepped forward and gave a slight bow "Greetings, honoured guests. I am 7-LOM, the personal translator droid of my master, Jeo-Firsr. My master welcomes you to his humble cantina. However, he also wishes to enquire about your business."

Ailan opened his mouth to speak, but Alyss stepped forward "It is an honour to be in the presence of the exalted Jeo-Firsr. We have heard about his legendary power and compassion. As for our business, we merely wish to locate and use the services of one Kazan Zanabi."

Ailan seemed indignant that he had been cut off before he could speak. Bdaris however, was suppressing a grin. He had forgotten that Alyss had been a Jedi Diplomat, was this how she treated all the dignitaries she met?

Jeo-Firsr spoke again, motioning to his bodyguards as he did so. 7-LOM paused and listened intently before he relayed the message "Jeo-Firsr is flattered by your words. However, also says that he is weary of giving away information regarding Zanabi. Zanabi is a close friend of my Master's, and he does not wish to see harm come to him. If you have come to harm Zanabi in any way, I am afraid that my master's, ahem, friends shall have to deal with you."

Alyss smiled "I assure the great Jeo-Firsr that we have not come to harm Zanabi. As we told your bartender, we merely wish to employ him briefly for a small job. One of our astromech droids has broken down and is in need of repairs, that is all."

Jeo-Firsr seemed to pause, before setting his gaze squarely on Alyss. Alyss cocked her head to the side, a confused look on her face. All of a sudden, her eyes widened in surprise and she took a step back. Bdaris became alarmed and moved forward, placing a hand on Alyss' shoulders.

"What's wrong? What is it?" Bdaris asked anxiously.

"He was in my mind! I could sense him!" Alyss hissed in surprise.

Jeo-Firsr chuckled, before saying a single word: "Jeedai."

The effect was immediate, the Ganks focused their gazes on Alyss in alarm, their hands firmly gripping their blasters as they aimed at her. The baron droids however, moved in an efficient unison, with all of their own blasters aimed squarely at Alyss.

"Oh dear!" 7-Lom gasped in surprise.

Acting quickly, Bdaris pulled out his lightsabers and ignited them, ready for a fight "Everyone, get behind me!"

To his surprise however, Jeo-Firsr laughed again and raised his arms in a calming gesture. The baron droids immediately complied. Although extremely hesitant, the Ganks also lowered their weapons. After taking a moment to stare at Bdaris, Jeo-Firsr spoke to 7-LOM.

"My master does not wish to cause you any alarm. He has no desire or intention to harm you. He was merely searching your mind to see if you were trustworthy." 7-LOM explained.

"He's Force sensitive?" Alyss asked as she rubbed her forehead.

"Negative, he is however, telepathic, as all Yahk-Tosh are." 7-LOM said "Now that he knows that he can trust you, he regrets to inform you that he has not been in contact with Zanabi for a number of months."

Sig sighed "Well, this has been a complete dead end then."

"However, my master does know that Zanabi was stationed on a _Lucrehulk_-class transport in orbit around Weytta." 7-LOM added.

The group brightened at that. Now they had a lead.

"Better contact the Captain about the news." Poe said, nodding towards Sonoro.

"We offer our sincere gratitude to Jeo-Firsr for his help." Alyss said, bowing slightly.

Jeo-Firsr spoke again.

"My master feels that he must add that if Zanabi is harmed in any way, he will not hesitate to send bounty hunters for your heads." 7-LOM said ominously.

"We'll keep that in mind. Let's go!" Bdaris said as he pulled Alyss away.

Once they were gone, 7-LOM sighed "Typical meat sacks, impertinent and always in a rush. Am I right?"

The baron droid that he had been addressing said "Indeed, a shame I did not get to vaporise them."

* * *

On the bridge of the _Unconquerable_, Starkblast turned to Vlanc.

"The pirates gave us all of their information, sir. They say that they have significant outposts located in the Cron Drift." Starkblast informed his superior.

"Excellent. Did they say anything else?" Vlanc asked.

Starkblast hesitated before he said: "Well...yes, sir. They mentioned an attack on the planet Repea. Apparently they wish to settle a conflict they're having with a local mercenary force, the Crimson Aces."

Vlanc cocked an eyebrow "Really? Well then, perhaps we should make an appearance."

Starkblast had known that this had been coming "Sir, I'm sure that the local planetary defence force can handle whatever forces the pirates can muster. We should strike now while their forces are preoccupied with other matters."

"That seemed to work out well for the Keed, didn't it? Leaving them to their own battles? Most of that squadron was slaughtered and the rest would have died if we had not intervened. No, Captain, if we are to gain the trusts of the natives, we must endeavour to do everything in our power to help them. It will greatly benefit us in the long run, I assure you."

Starkblast sighed in defeat "Very well, sir. I understand."

Vlanc nodded "Very well then, set a course for the Repea system."

"Aye, aye, sir." The helmsman said.

In a moment, they were in hyperspace, heading for planet Repea.

* * *

And end of chapter 5. Originally, Vlanc was to go to Repea, Weytta and Keed all in one chapter, but I realised that would make this chapter too long, so now it will be divided into three chapters. The character of Jeo-Firsr was great for me, as I've been trying to use a Yahk-Tosh character for a while, they're an interesting species. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, please remember to review and finally...thanks for reading!


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